By Claire Anderson
Fort Davis
“YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE.” It’s not just a slogan. It’s a fact. Voting is how we exercise our power as citizens of this democratic republic, and of course, every vote counts, as we have seen in recent elections in the tri-county area. Every single vote.
Some voices, however, are louder than others. That can be because the speaker (or shouter) is excited, angry or joyful, but intense and energetic whatever the mood, and this is as it should be. But there is another way to amplify a voice and that is with money. Over the next two months we will be bombarded with political speech, not from individual citizens, but from “interests,” special and otherwise.
Political parties, of course, will advertise like mad, but corporate, professional and ideological groups with enormous amounts of money can buy time for their messages to influence your vote. Their point is to get the national policies that benefit their groups and interests. The challenge for voters is to figure out what is in their interest and what benefits them, their families, their communities. And this isn’t easy.
We will be up to our ears in claims and counterclaims and information that may or may not be reliable presented by candidates who want us to like and trust them. And money, big money, will be cranking up the volume to 11. There will be shiny objects and crazy allegations, as always. But if we are to be responsible citizens we must listen through the noise and look past the professionally polished faces. We must think, not simply react.
Without an effort on our part, we will be manipulated by money and unable to distinguish solid information from propaganda, not to mention flat out lies. We owe it to ourselves and to each other to beware of accepting messages that seem logical, that make us feel good, without examining the accuracy of what we’re being told, considering the sources, and weighing the motives of the speakers.
The louder the voices, the more sensational the claims, the more voters need to use their own judgment. Take time to think. Listen critically. Talk to one another. And then VOTE!