Voting as learning
November 6th, 2006
Tomorrow, Americans will vote for candidates running for the United States House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as various other state and local offices. Since it is always dangerous to engage in political discourse in the blogosphere, especially on a blog such as this one, I would normally end my post here by simply encouraging you to fulfill your responsibility as an American citizen and go out and vote.
But there is broad agreement that this is a particularly important election given everything that is happening both at home and abroad. So, I want to offer what I think is some useful and completely non-partisan advice to assist you in making your decisions tomorrow. Over many months, candidates from the two major parties have bombarded us with messages on their own behalf and against their opponents. In recent weeks, there has been a marked increase in the intensity of these efforts including, unfortunately, deception, distraction and duplicity from both sides. As a responsible voter, then, it is important for you to cut through this noise in order to home in on the signal. My suggestion for doing that is to reflect on the following question before you cast your votes:
Are you comfortable with what you see happening in
your community, your state and your country today?
Regardless of your political affiliations or views, there can be no argument that this is the overarching question driving this election. And even though it is a yes or no question, it is still very much about learning. This inquiry challenges you to use your real-life experience, rather than a blind commitment to either conservative or progressive ideology, as the basis for making this most critical of all choices. When the stakes are this high, it is imperative we make sense of what is actually happening in order to arrive at an informed decision.
I believe that when we put our own capabilities to the test during difficult times, we tend to rise to the challenge. This is one of those situations, and I believe we must all act with the insight, foresight and wisdom implied by the all-important exercise of the voting franchise we each hold. Good luck tomorrow and PLEASE GO VOTE!
Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, Announcements, What's New?, Social Media, Random Thoughts
Ben Martin and P.I.
Association exec Ben Martin, CAE is P.I.’s Architect of Participation. Jeff and Ben help clients harness the power of the Web through the strategic application of social tools.
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