The Privilege of Indifference

“Of course I don’t support Trump, but I just don’t think I can bring myself to vote for Joe Biden.”

All of us have probably heard some version of this statement from someone we know- a friend, family member, co-worker, fellow church member, or a neighbor. Good people, great people even, who cannot fully support the candidate opposition to Donald Trump because of the political implications. Once again, many people feel as if the choices we are faced with in the upcoming presidential election fall far too short of the best that this country should be committed to putting forward in an election for president.

As someone who fought hard for and supported Senator Bernie Sanders and his grassroots policies over the past few years, I get it. I, too, feel cheated. Heartbroken even. I feel like big-money establishment politics still has far too much power and influence over our national elections. I myself dream of the day that election reformation policies such as rank-choice voting or the national popular vote (1 person, 1 vote) will be implemented as the way that our elections are determined in order to allow a more equitable process that welcomes in a larger, better, and more diverse set of candidates. I long for the day we are given real choices in who we elect as our leaders for the most important job in this country.

I also empathize with my conservative friends and family, those who see themselves as “reasonable Republicans” who identify with many noble conservative principles but refuse to get behind this divisive president. To them, sitting out, or simply staying out of the way, feels like an easier and more respectable choice to crossing the middle aisle and changing their colors from red to blue. “What would my (*insert name of person who always makes you feel guilty about politics*) think about this move?”

Then there are the one-issue voters: (i.e. – “I will never support a politician that does not embrace a pro-life platform”.) Never mind the fact that at this very moment the Trump administration detains actual human kids in actual cages, separates real-life families at the border, incites race wars, promotes police brutality (with indifference and 1950's stump speeches), defends our broken criminal justice system, destroys our planet and ignores the very real and existing results of climate change, and defunds public education (just to name a few of many). Never mind Trump’s “law and order”, pro death penalty, “knock the crap out of them” views of anyone who doesn’t look or think or vote like he does. Never mind the statistics that equitable economic policies and closing the racial wealth gap have a greater impact on abortion rates than blind legislation, or that under the last few Democratic presidents the abortion rates were actually lower than any of the recent Republican presidents (this never gets enough spotlight).

And never mind that the last four consecutive years in America have been some of the darkest we’ve seen since the dark days that led to the civil rights movement.

But we cannot deny what we all know to be true- THIS IS NOT AN ORDINARY ELECTION.

It just isn’t.

Forget where you fall on the political spectrum- right, left, blue, red, purple, poke-a-dot, or anything beyond or in between.

There are only TWO choices on the ballot for president in 2020: DEMOCRACY or AUTHORITARIAN DICTATORSHIP. (FULL STOP).

Maybe you think I’m being extreme. Maybe you haven’t seen the evidence that this is how polarized our country has become. Maybe you haven’t participated in a peaceful protest because someone you know and love was murdered simply for the color of their skin. Maybe you’ve never had to work multiple jobs at minimum wage just to put some food on your table. Maybe you’ve never been denied healthcare. Maybe you’ve never served time for a non-violent drug offense. Maybe you’ve never been separated from your family or watched your baby ripped from your arms simply because you risked your life to escape even worse oppression and tyranny, only to be caged like an animal in a country that claims to welcome “tired, poor, huddled masses” or those “yearning to be free”. Maybe you’ve never gasped for fresh air because the wildfires in your part of the country devastated the beautiful landscapes that have continued to be more threatened because of the ever-changing climate conditions that have turned them into powder kegs for widespread disaster. Maybe you’ve never watched your home burned to the ground or be flooded by a hurricane.

Maybe you need to start thinking beyond your own reality.

Look, I know that’s harsh. I know that feels mean-spirited. It’s not. It’s a genuine call to be the kind of American you claim to be now: Patriotic. A defender of justice. A proud flag-waving defender of liberty and freedom. The kind of American who can justify standing when our national anthem is played at a football game.

Right now, large populations of people from all different walks of life are watching their freedoms being destroyed, much of it at the hands of imperfect human beings who are supposed to be protecting us and defending our right to life.

Donald Trump has blood on his hands, and I haven’t even mentioned COVID-19 yet. It is not unfair to say that he has to personally answer for much of the devastation our nation is currently experiencing, as does ANYONE who allows his policies, behavior, and (in many instances) his inaction to be allowed to continue for one day longer than January 20, 2021, when we can hopefully see this nightmare (begin to) end.

Joe Biden is not a silver bullet. In fact, if he's elected, I am certain that I will spend energy between 2021 and 2024 calling on to the carpet all of the policies and positions he takes that I vehemently disagree with. Voting for Joe Biden does not cure everything, but it gives us a place to begin with someone who possesses basic human decency. Decent leaders don't always do everything right. But Joe Biden has at least the power to return to us one of the most important values we as a nation must have that has been decimated since 2016: decency.

Maybe you don’t see it this way. Maybe your life hasn’t been affected by the presidency of Donald Trump. Maybe you even benefit from the way he leads this nation. How long do you think that will last? When it finally comes time for YOU and your family to be the ones who suffer at the hands of his leadership, will there be anyone left to stand behind you?

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” - MARTIN NIEMÖLLER

Please recognize the privilege you have simply to be indifferent in this election. Please recognize that others cannot afford that path. For some, this election is literally a matter of life and death; vote or die. Will you stand with them like you stand with the unborn? What good is protecting the unborn only to bring them into a world as cruel, as individualistic, as power and money hungry, and as hateful as the one we’ve seen manifested under Donald Trump?

Sure, this hate was already there brewing underneath the surface. But like any destructive disease, this president gave this disease a host to grow on, a place for hate to spread...to become commonplace.

In November, I’m begging you to save this democracy from this disease. I’m begging you to fight for my children, my friends of color and their children, our planet, our future… our American decency.

Whatever good this country has done or seen has ONE LAST CHANCE to survive this November.

Don’t sit on the sidelines. These are momentous times. Whatever you would have done during other important moments in our nation’s history (civil rights, women’s rights, etc.), you are doing that very thing right now.

First they came for the immigrants, and I did not speak out— because I was not an immigrant.

Then they came for the Muslims, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Muslim.

Then they came for the unarmed black man, and I did not speak out— because I was not a black man.

Then they came for the terminally ill, and I did not speak out— because I did not have COVID-19.

Then they came for those gasping for air in the wild fires of California, and I did not speak out – because my Midwest home was standing strong.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.