We Baby Boomers are old no matter how good we feel, no matter how much we have left to do, no matter what advances in health and psychoanalysis greet us over morning coffee. We’re a generation whose tires are wearing thin, and we finally realize that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Political candidates really, really want all of us to get out and vote in November. Naturally, they want us to vote for them, which is why they spend so much money trying to grab our spotty attention with promises of peace or war, wealth, health, safety – whatever turns us on.
Our forefathers did not fight the most dominant country in the world, Great Britain, because they wanted to make America safe. Or rich. Or great. They fought for freedom, only freedom. They had difficulties – soldiers couldn’t be paid and were often sick, cold and hungry because it was always snowing. But 25,000 colonists died so we would be free.
Many early settlers insisted it was smarter to stay close to Mother Britain, to go ahead and pay taxes and not get so riled about it. After all, life was pretty good for the rich. Because it was crummy for the poor didn’t really matter all that much – they were hopeless and always would be.
Fast forward to today.
Donald Trump, an oligarch, a one percenter, has said that he, and he alone, can make America great again. I suppose he means where people who cheat at golf and business can boss around young, smart, active, creative people who serve them Champagne.
On the other side, Hillary Clinton is arguably the most popular woman in the world and will remain so whether she becomes president or not. Obstacles are a way of life for her. You know, if she were the candidate with five children from three different spouses, it would be a ranting political, personal, religious and moral issue. But she’s not, so let’s move on.
Oh, and there are two more people running for president, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party. Haven’t heard much from or about them, which indicates they probably don’t have much money. Nevertheless, both are trailblazers and are at least doing their best to let people know our country is big and bright and needs careful tending.
These four people want us to vote. And we baby boomers are saying, “Why? Who cares? You have every right to vote just as I have every right not to.”
Why not just let the rain wash your car?
We inherited a free country because strong people who came before us saw to it. They knew they wouldn’t live to see the utopia they wrote about so eloquently, but they sacrificed all they had anyway. If they had lost the Revolutionary War, they would have been hanged. So they risked everything. They didn’t do it for themselves, they did it for their country. For their children and theirs and theirs, all the way down to us.
It’s mind boggling that we can, with a straight face and emphasis, say to those who are younger than we are, that it is their turn to do what they want. We will sit back and do nothing because it offends us to buy into “the system.”
Yes, Trump has every right to do what he does, say what he wants, be who he is, and interpret American life as he sees fit. Colonists fought for that right. They had vision. They knew they weren’t fighting for a way of life for themselves, but for future generations. They fought to make government a tool of the people and supplied us with the blueprint of how to maintain it – voting.
Voting isn’t a right, voting is a duty. Every single adult citizen who likes living in a democracy has the duty to preserve it. Not for them so much as for their descendants.
It’s easy to do – go to the courthouse, fill out the form. Forms are also in Spanish. Do it by October 7, it must be done 30 days before the Nov. 8 election. It costs nothing, it preserves everything.
We are voting for young people more than for any candidate. We’re voting so those who understand the environment, understand global interactions, understand that weather is reacting to human activity, and understand that voting is neither hopeless nor unimportant, will stand a chance.
If it’s our last stand, let’s take it.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Frederick Douglass
Mary Pat Boian
Bravo! Great letter! I believe in our rights so much that I’m running for the Kansas House of Representatives (where I live when I’m not in Eureka Springs). Our fathers and mothers and grandfathers and grandmothers fought for their right to be free….and as a result, we Baby Boomers had a good life growing up. Now, it is our turn—-there is still a lot of fighting to be done, especially in this election when we have a candidate for president who wants to take away our rights. BUT….it’s not just the presidential race we should be concerned about—-it is EVERY senator or representative or judge or county clerk. One or two votes can make a difference. GET OUT AND VOTE, or quit calling yourself an American.
So glad you’re jumping in Susan K Osborne!