It’s clear that this election will not resolve the all-pervasive discontent that many of us feel at the moment. It’s time that we dig deeper to find the root of our unease.
The evidence that the American Dream has gone off the rails is everywhere. The persistence of systemic racism. An inequitable and widening distribution of wealth. Endless revelations of sexual assault. Incarceration of minor offenders. Unbridled exploitation of our natural resources. Unfettered corporate interests producing unprecedented financial gains that primarily benefit the 1%.
Wasn’t the original goal to empower citizens to pursue their individual destinies for the common good? Instead of creating a democratic society that lifts all boats, we’ve built a national hierarchy that exponentially rewards individuals as they rise to the top who, once they arrive at an elevated pinnacle, have little sense of responsibility to others.
How did we end up here? The answer is now in plain view in this election, as our own leaders display the problem, demonstrating the behaviors that have gotten us here. The patriarchal structures and power plays that both men and women prosecute. The Man Box culture that destroys men, women and healthy relationships. White privilege and our tendency to put tribe over country. Unchecked greed. A social system that devalues our humanity and exploits us as units of productivity. And last, but not least, religious affiliations that exhibit all the same bad behaviors.
The reason why we approach this election with weariness and apprehension is that we know that whoever is elected, it is unlikely that these deeply embedded drivers of our collective experience as Americans will shift. We have voted for change repeatedly, with incremental results, and we will do so again, and again.
The problem is that the solution we seek does not lie in choosing the right leaders or making the best policy decisions. Of course, these are important, but no person or agenda will be equal to the task of re-energizing our democracy until we engineer a new social contract as a nation. We must dismantle the power-aggression paradigms as practiced by both genders. We must rethink a capitalist system that rewards only a few. We must renew our covenant to preserve and protect as well as enjoy the environment. And we must, once again, reinvent an education system whose meritocracies merely magnify and strengthen the current societal distortions enjoyed by a lucky few, instead of leveling the playing field for all, as promised.
How do we execute such a seismic shift? Is it even possible? Hardened, embattled realpolitiks will laugh, but I think the answer is yes. The men and women who founded this country got it right. The unit of change in our democratic society is an active citizen, and we have more power than most think.
So, please go vote, but don’t stop there. Keep going. We are without question at an inflection point, and what is at stake is our soul as a nation.
Our founders recognized the importance of participating in something bigger than oneself, having a sense of purpose, entertaining the possibility that there might be a high power governing us, which 9 out of 10 Americans believe to this day. The question that is before us, the call that we are being asked to answer is – how do we want to express our common purpose? Do we want to accept the status quo, or do we want to recommit to our original American Dream of freedom, liberty, and happiness in pursuit of the common good?
I know what my answer is. I’m going to go out and “make some good trouble.”
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