Election Day in America 2024

Well … finally … the day is upon us. We, the people of America, collectively get to discharge the privilege and obligation to choose one of its human members to guide and lead our nation further into an unknown condition called the future.

Though it is a period of great angst for many, it has been equally so for others in past elections, I’m certain. This is not the first time the continuance of the country’s chosen form of government has been so clearly challenged. But how that challenge has come to be is historically unique and more dangerous than it has ever been. There three conditions that have brought us to where we are today.

One condition not unique in world history is that the mindsets of many have become consumed with the believe that their lives are harsh and to them bleak to the extent that it is no longer acceptable. They believe it is due to the decisions and disregard of others. And, there is very little they can do about it. It is a feeling bordering on desperation.

The second condition is also not unique. It is when one person of some stature or personal attribute who accurately defines and identifies this desperation and offers an alternative that will remove it and replace it with a better life. And then also promises to remove all those who were responsible. Desperation will no longer exist, and their lives will improve.

But the third condition is very unique. Never has there been the ability of anyone on the planet to be heard at will and instantaneously by everyone else on the planet. Social media has become a force no earthly society has ever had to deal with. The ability to sneeze and have it immediately heard around the world, and then for others to have the ability to respond to it in real time, has never existed. Suddenly, group thought can explode and be generated in seconds forcing institutions and governments to react far more quickly, and dangerously, than they otherwise would’ve had to. The world is now seemingly more and more easily influenced by information spread by the phenomenon of viral dissemination that does not even have to be true.

So this is what we have today. Folks who feel disenfranchised, actually and not. A man who promises an impossible utopia formulated by a tsunami of lies and false realities given agency by instantaneous dispersion to millions at a time without letup 24/7 for ten years.

Having said as much, there is hope today, that, as America has a few dark times in the past, stood still for a moment and took time to assess it all. And having done so, determined what it collectively believes will be the best path forward for the next four years. It has made the right decision in the past. 

I have hope it will again.