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- Joined
- Jan 8, 2009
According to my statistics, between Blue Moon and Elliquiy, roughly one thousand members and two thousand daily visitors are American.
So I'm going to abuse my position, and hopefully the foreigners here will forgive my moment of indiscretion.
I am quite sure that each and every member here has heard the call to vote at least once. Some of you have already voted.
Others of you probably declare that voting is a meaningless gesture. You could highlight, for example, McCain's economic advisers and note how closely some of them worked with the worst on Obama's team.
But we're not dealing with a coherent conspiracy, here. "O'Donnell is a witch!" ... please. I think most of us find her stance on masturbation far more worrying. Hopefully Americans will get tired of "Be afraid!" and "React to this!" soon.
Voting today - and getting others to vote today - is less about making a difference at the immediate moment and, instead, making a habit for the future. I'm going to be more proactive about party primaries in the future, and possibly seeing what difference we can make there.
To anyone who has been even slightly considering taking a leadership role, I would suggest you do so. The vacuum for leaders in America right now is palpable, at least to me. I highly doubt I am the only one here who has been asked, directly, "Tell me what to do." by a complete stranger for no other reason than the fact that I took a stance on something. Can you name a powerful, proactive voice in this nation? Is there one? Obama vacillated and ran himself into a brick wall. A wall many of us saw was there.
Pick an issue. Pick a party.
Make the issue local and make it achievable within your means. It does not have to be yours - someone else's voting initiative is fine. Get something on a ballot or take something off. Learn about the process and how it works. Learn about the why and why not.
The party does not really matter as long as there are those in it who will identify with your cause. Plenty of democrats are fed up with aimlessness and plenty of republicans are fed up with ideology. Both parties have a long history of overlooking corruption in the name of party unity. You could do worse than helping to stop that.
Do not raise your voice.
Do not yell.
Make friends.
This is practice.
Learn how to convince people. Find your strengths in that regard. Maybe that's support, maybe it's leading from the front. Maybe it's being the face of an idea. Or just a voice.
You will not win converts by preaching to choirs.
If someone wonders at why you are devoting such effort to something so trivial, admit it. It's practice. Maybe they should practice too. Most will probably laugh or shrug it off. Only takes one person to agree.
I've been told that, in the United States, it is generally about six years between a political incident - whatever you might call the last two years - and its popular response.
In this, you are more than your own two hands. You are more than your single vote.
Your vote is not just yours but everyone who has the same goals and vision that you do.
If that vision is solely your own - if you do not share it, refuse to spread it, fail to grow it - then yes, your vote is going to look very, very small. This is a world of many people.
Yet there is only room for so many ideas.
And the world is starving for them.
So pick one, and plant it.
Water it. Make it grow. Of course it's hard work. Maybe someone else has a better plant. Water that. When evaluating leaders history tends to underestimate the importance of the first followers.
This country's problems - this world's problems - are not going to be solved by ten or ten thousand people.
So vote.
Not because it will make a difference, but as a personal pledge to do so in the future. To be ready to make a difference when all the difference in the world is needed.
Thank you for reading.
So I'm going to abuse my position, and hopefully the foreigners here will forgive my moment of indiscretion.
I am quite sure that each and every member here has heard the call to vote at least once. Some of you have already voted.
Others of you probably declare that voting is a meaningless gesture. You could highlight, for example, McCain's economic advisers and note how closely some of them worked with the worst on Obama's team.
But we're not dealing with a coherent conspiracy, here. "O'Donnell is a witch!" ... please. I think most of us find her stance on masturbation far more worrying. Hopefully Americans will get tired of "Be afraid!" and "React to this!" soon.
Voting today - and getting others to vote today - is less about making a difference at the immediate moment and, instead, making a habit for the future. I'm going to be more proactive about party primaries in the future, and possibly seeing what difference we can make there.
To anyone who has been even slightly considering taking a leadership role, I would suggest you do so. The vacuum for leaders in America right now is palpable, at least to me. I highly doubt I am the only one here who has been asked, directly, "Tell me what to do." by a complete stranger for no other reason than the fact that I took a stance on something. Can you name a powerful, proactive voice in this nation? Is there one? Obama vacillated and ran himself into a brick wall. A wall many of us saw was there.
Pick an issue. Pick a party.
Make the issue local and make it achievable within your means. It does not have to be yours - someone else's voting initiative is fine. Get something on a ballot or take something off. Learn about the process and how it works. Learn about the why and why not.
The party does not really matter as long as there are those in it who will identify with your cause. Plenty of democrats are fed up with aimlessness and plenty of republicans are fed up with ideology. Both parties have a long history of overlooking corruption in the name of party unity. You could do worse than helping to stop that.
Do not raise your voice.
Do not yell.
Make friends.
This is practice.
Learn how to convince people. Find your strengths in that regard. Maybe that's support, maybe it's leading from the front. Maybe it's being the face of an idea. Or just a voice.
You will not win converts by preaching to choirs.
If someone wonders at why you are devoting such effort to something so trivial, admit it. It's practice. Maybe they should practice too. Most will probably laugh or shrug it off. Only takes one person to agree.
I've been told that, in the United States, it is generally about six years between a political incident - whatever you might call the last two years - and its popular response.
In this, you are more than your own two hands. You are more than your single vote.
Your vote is not just yours but everyone who has the same goals and vision that you do.
If that vision is solely your own - if you do not share it, refuse to spread it, fail to grow it - then yes, your vote is going to look very, very small. This is a world of many people.
Yet there is only room for so many ideas.
And the world is starving for them.
So pick one, and plant it.
Water it. Make it grow. Of course it's hard work. Maybe someone else has a better plant. Water that. When evaluating leaders history tends to underestimate the importance of the first followers.
This country's problems - this world's problems - are not going to be solved by ten or ten thousand people.
So vote.
Not because it will make a difference, but as a personal pledge to do so in the future. To be ready to make a difference when all the difference in the world is needed.
Thank you for reading.
