By Jake Sallerson
When this country formed, there was no central understanding of what freedom meant. We had no concept of how a free government should, could or would operate and we were unsure how to implement such a government should we discover the understanding of it. And, beyond that, only one-third of Americans at the time stood behind the notion of a unified government; one-third severely opposed it and the remaining third did not care either way.
Today, the reality of politics and government is not much different. In the most recent presidential election, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump collected just under 60 million votes apiece in a country of 330 million. That tells me about just under half of the population voted. Now, of course, there are those under the age of 18 who are not eligible to vote (a topic for another day) and, of course, as such do not count.
The struggle today as I see it isn't so much a disinterest in government; modern media, the internet and social networking have done well to eliminate such barriers almost ostracizing our ability to "not" care. Instead, our issue is still that we cannot agree on what a free government should be and we still don't know yet how to best implement such a structure were we to discover this ever-elusive mystery.
Americans love to argue. We love to be right and we love to win. Donald Trump didn't do anything other than recognize this facet of American behavior and he did what he does best: He capitalized upon it. Americans also like to be leaders, models for others in the world, and we strive to be the best.
Somewhere along the way, these two sets of qualities have come in direct contradiction with the other, and we (I use that term loosely) decided to elect a man who chose to represent the more aesthetic portions of what it means to be American rather than the substantial parts of what make us who we are.
While we cannot change this drastically dangerous avenue of where our federal government decides to go in the course of the next four years, we can do something. And before you convince yourself that what I'm about to say can't possibly have any impact on the bigger picture, please understand that all politics are local and nothing big can start out that way (big). It must always start small and it must start locally.
In the next two years, we as a Valley, as a state and as a nation, have an incredible opportunity to prove that Donald Trump is not right in his assessment of our humanity. We have the capacity to show we are stronger when we unite and when we involve ourselves in the decision-making process of governing and how we can choose to decide the fate of our own future beyond just voting someone into office.
I myself just ran a campaign for public office and while many of you know I did not reach the intended goal of serving your interests in the State House over the course of the next two years, the outcome does not mean that I will not be doing so just the same. This election has shown this town that a significant few do want to be involved in the decision making of what their local government decides. And I will be doing exactly what I would have done had I been elected. The only difference is that I will not have a voice in the Legislature. To me this is almost better. We can organize and we can set the tone for the days to come.
Together, we have an opportunity to change the course of how Americans view politics and government, and we can put not only our town and state on the right course for greatness through inclusion, but we can be a beacon of light and example for every other state in this great country. I ask you not to see this election as a loss for America but to see it as I have (both locally and nationally) as an amazing opportunity for growth, inclusion, involvement and progress.
I personally will not stand and let a tyrant destroy our country or this planet. And I will fight to my last breath defending freedom, justice, honor, liberty and the rights so endowed upon each of us from the moment we are born; though I would much prefer to do so in a way that uses the sword of law, rather than the sword of death, to accomplish and achieve that outcome. It was, after all, JFK who said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." I ask that you join me in making a peaceful revolution of how we choose to govern ourselves and ask that we unite and be the example of what the concept of the experiment in self-governance this country was intended to be. Let's have a conversation, let's make a change. If we don't do it now, we may never get another chance. It is, after all, "The Donald" in charge now.
Sallerson lives in Warren.
