Election Day

 In our non-stop effort to forge ahead, scramble to invent, utilize and further integrate technology into smaller and smaller jean pockets we often forget where we have come from and where most of the rest of the world still exists.                  

We forget that it wasn’t but a few decades ago that technology was a black and white tv, and a corded 5 pound phone that each family had to share.

When I think back to those days I wonder how I ever got through without my iphone? Can you imagine traveling and not being reachable? Or going a whole day without email? Or even existing without texting?

In most places of the world this is still their reality. It seems that as technology pushes us further and further into the future it widens the gap between our fellow countries and societies.

I am lucky enough to have traveled much of the world. Places where time has slowed to a pace that seems to keep it suspended in the mid-twentieth century. Places where public services are non-existent and people live simple more solitary lives. To get to school they have to drive themselves, to get garbage out of the living space you have to burn it yourself or live with it as a yard surface. Many of these societies have no place to adequately take care of the most fragile of their citizens. Children and animals are the most vulnerable and often are the last ones to receive care, even at the most basic levels.

There are so many wonderful things about living in the USA. One of our most precious liberties is our freedom. We are able to decide our own day to day life, our own destiny, and who will be our voice on a local, state, and national level. These elected officials speak for us, look after us, and are held accountable by us. It is the closest thing to complete democracy and the freest place on our planet.

For me voting is one of the acts of being a US citizen that I am most proud of and most grateful for. I, like everyone else, have very personal reasons that I choose each candidate who gets my check on the ballot box next to their name.

I don’t decide based on age, gender, or party color. I decide based on who I think will take the best care of my fellow citizens and how I think they will be taken care of. I try to decide based on who will care the most for those who are most vulnerable. Our future is always in our hands. Let your voice be heard and help shape the destiny of your and our collective futures.

I hope to see you all next to me in the voting line come this Tuesday.