Voting is one of our most powerful actions

The coronavirus has drastically altered our lives worldwide and has exposed a crumbling foundation of rot in this country. Many people are losing not only their jobs but also the health care benefits tied to those jobs. We’re seeing long food lines and housing insecurity, and the path to a decent education has on been on life support since 2017.

Our own lack of vigilance has allowed unethical people — whose interests extend no further than the pursuit of power and whose knowledge of how to run a government doesn’t exist — to seize control of the government from the hands of public servants, who are then demonized as they’re booted out the door.

These power gluttons try to convince us that expecting them to be taxed fairly will stunt the economy, that making them accountable for their actions will not be tolerated, that foreigners working here (and paying taxes) are parasites, and that big government is wasteful and inefficient. Simultaneously, they are working to privatize much of what falls under the purview of government and to dismantle government safeguards. Their audacity and arrogance are breathtaking!

Our fight-or-flight instinct has been dulled over time, and we’ve been slowly conditioned to distrust our neighbors, all things foreign, local government and once-respected institutions.

We can look at our drastically altered way of living and our corrupted government and either become paralyzed with fear, or see both as temporary and work to regain control. One powerful way to begin the journey back to a healthy and inclusive life is to vote. Voting is one of the most powerful things we can do, and it’s the least we can do.

EILEEN QUIGLEY

Friendship