Tomorrow’s U.S. Election Actually Does Matter
I don’t know how many readers are in the Sierra Club’s email database. If you are, you just saw this come across the wire:
Tuesday will be the single most decisive day for America’s environment for years — perhaps ever.
Who will win tomorrow: Champions for our climate, clean air and water, clean-energy jobs, and wildlife? Or Big Oil, Big Coal, and the politicians they keep in their pocket?
Obviously, this is something of an oversimplification. Yes, a Romney administration would put a spear through all the progress we’ve made vis-à-vis the environment over the past 50 years, and make the United States a pariah on the world stage in this regard. But, though Obama has done a far better job on environmental issues than did his predecessor (whose name, for some reason, is no longer mentioned), we still have huge subsidies for the oil companies, as well as numerous other horrors. These are reminders of the fact that our democracy is badly damaged, perhaps beyond repair.
If you think that’s an exaggeration, you may want to perform a quick experiment: Ask 10 people around you if they think the taxpayer should be subsidizing ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and the others. You’ll be lucky to find one who agrees. Then ask yourself: if democracy means “rule by the people” and the people are almost unanimously opposed to a certain practice, how is it possible that it still continues?
Yes, our government has become corrupt. But it could be worse. How? When apathy takes root and voters don’t show up at the polls. When we cease to care, and stop standing up for what we believe, we’re truly sunk.
So, Americans, please vote tomorrow as if your future depends on it. Because it actually does.
Not sure its apathy, but it does seem to me that the modern voter can be quite segmented in their thinking. I’ll use women’s health issues as my platform here. There are certainly others.
A number of states have put forth some very draconian, almost middle ages, kinds of propositions that would seem to remove me from the equation of controlling my body and physical health outcomes. The opposition candidate has made all of the noise and motions of complete agreement with these ideas. I personally find this to be so extraordinary, that the people who proffer such ideas are complete non-starters as my representatives. It is so antithetic to modern society,they might as well be encouraging the return of slavery or the inquisition.
Strangely, while many women feel quite strongly about this, some immediately revert to support for the opposition when the subject is changed to a perhaps less controversial issue like job creation. It is amazing to me that such compartmentalized thinking is even possible.
Outside of abortion, to what are you referring in terms of women’s health?