“We The People.”

Posted on | October 7, 2024 | 10 Comments

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Mike Magee

With the 2024 Presidential election four weeks away, I continue to struggle with the fact that up to 75 million of our fellow citizens may vote for Trump.

On the surface, it feels like a broad recrimination of the goodness and intelligence of nearly half of American voters – rendering us “unexceptional” at best.

Even if you grant targeted voters against abortion, or for state’s rights, or concerned about budget deficits, this requires that we accept a remarkable reliance on situational ethics: that you could accept evil, degeneracy, selfishness, and cruelty in a clearly unstable and rapidly aging leader in return for getting what you wanted in the bargain.

While there may be elements of truth in that, I think it’s too simple an explanation. There are other contributors.

We are a consumer society (aka greedy).

We are an individualistic society (aka no tradition of solidarity).

We are a gullible society (aka naive enough to embrace fantasies).

We are an entertainment society (aka easily distractible).

We are a young society (aka immature and quick to discard our elders).

We are Americans (aka vulnerable to someone exactly of the size and dimensions and character of Trump).

But we are other things as well. We are immigrants, innovative, creative, energetic, hopeful, and loving (much of the time).

We are also resilient, grateful, and largely balanced. As we approach 2025, majorities of us oppose Dobbs, Project 2025 and the planned destruction of our Democracy.

My guess is, in 4 weeks, good will conquer evil – by sizable margins.

But it is in our hands. It comes down to “We the People.” That is our America. Each of us must consider wisely and use our individual power to move the needle in favor of our better selves.

How do we make America healthy – in body, mind, and spirit?

We will have our answer in 30 days.

Comments

10 Responses to ““We The People.””

Joshua Sands
October 7th, 2024 @ 8:55 am

Mike, thanks for your blog. Whether you are right or wrong it is nice to have a log of optimism to hold on to while floating in the sea of despair that is our presidential election. I hope you are right!
Mike Magee
October 7th, 2024 @ 9:36 am

Thanks, Josh! We embrace “hope.”
Laureen Summers
October 7th, 2024 @ 11:52 am

Trump has made it clear he does not want people with disabilities anywhere near him. So much for my presence! He will also dismantle DEI programs which are critical for ensuring that different ideas and perspectives contribute to a great, creative and innovative (especially) scientific enterprise.
Mike Magee
October 7th, 2024 @ 5:31 pm

Thanks, Laureen, for this and for your leadership. You are right to point out that our strength and inventiveness lies in our diversity and advancing “a land of opportunity.” Role models and clear voices like your’s make all the difference. Thanks, Mike
Art Ulene
October 7th, 2024 @ 6:29 pm

Thanks for your honesty, integrity, insight, and observational powers. Thanks, also for your use of the term “situational ethics. I was recently forced to “fire” a friend who qualified for that term. He was a devout Christian, a very conservative Republican, prayed all the time to Jesus, but said that he had to vote for Trump because Harris was once “Willie Brown’s concubine”. (I’m serious. You can’t make this stuff up.). For years, he and I had been able to amicably discuss our politics from opposite ends of the spectrum. After that short interchange, I called him “morally flexible, and ended our relationship. I now have two terms I can use if I ever meet someone like him in the future. All the best to you and Trish… Art
Mike Magee
October 7th, 2024 @ 7:10 pm

Thanks, Art. These are challenging times. Our families, our friendships, our trusted allies must now survive the deliberate destructive influence of a demigod of sorts. Humans are remarkably vulnerable for such a dominant species. And yet here we are. There seems to be little time or wiggle room left. Best, Mike
Larry McGovern
October 8th, 2024 @ 9:44 am

Thanks, Mike. I shudder think what will befall us if Trump again becomes president. However, let’s not deceive ourselves that Harris is a “good” choice. I am still trying to get this old head around the fact that my country, under this current Democratic administration, which, remember, includes the “good” choice, actively and openly participates in genocide, the worst of all international, humanitarian crimes. Secondly, let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Democratic Party has, since Clinton, all but abandoned the middle and lower class, so that the difference between the major parties has become miniscule. So, I’ll be holding my nose when I mail in my ballot. And should Harris win – actually even if she doesn’t win – it behooves us to work hard to get the Dems back to its founding principals.
Mike Magee
October 8th, 2024 @ 9:55 am

Thanks, Larry. I always value, and have been impressed over these many years, your commitment to the Peace and Justice movements. For a pragmatist like me, it is always a challenge to know how far is too far in the pursuit of common ground. Your voice reminds and challenges. I hear the echos of James Madison in Federalist No. 51: “Justice is the end (the anchor) of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will be pursued until it is obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.” Thank you. Mike
martha lewin
October 8th, 2024 @ 11:09 am

Thanks for this Mike. More and more I feel like we need to hear and reflect and focus on the positive possibilities. For the sake of our own sanity!
Mike Magee
October 8th, 2024 @ 4:03 pm

Thanks, Martha. I’ve relied on your’s and Jack’s voice thru many years to maintain my faith in goodness and sanity. Best, Mike