Points of view challenge America
The news media are busy covering a wide variety of points of view. It’s not just a left or right political concern that create the diversity. Whether it’s the evacuation of Afghanistan after a 20-year war, wild fires in the West, hurricanes beating our shores, Covid-19 vaccinations, or the crush of immigrants at our borders, opinions are scattered.
These images are events that confronted us during this most recent weekend.
Who is right? What is the correct perspective and to whom should we turn for wisdom and leadership?
The reality of the day, especially in these last few days, is that one ideology cannot meet all of the demand for answers. Points of view clash against each other as values and priorities vie for dominance and our logic and emotions tear the population apart.
Multiple points of view bring America into the future
There is a truth that emerges amidst all of this chaos. The truth is, and always has been, America needs multiple points of view to be, well, America. This kind of under-our-skin (beyond race) diversity is what makes our aspirations form the American future – the American promise unfolds as we pursue our safety, our dreams, and our happiness.
Multiple points of view define who we are: We, collectively, are America.
One takeaway is revealed from the scattered perceptions that at once tear at our heartstrings while also prompting us to defend and define our values: There is strength in listening and honoring multiple points of view!
Multiple points of view are needed to face our challenges
Watch the news. Form opinions based on facts and logic and empathy. These are the stepping stones we must traverse to preserve what we have and to discover answers for the steady drumbeat of challenges marching against us from all corners of the globe.
- Climate change promises to upend the world for all of us – no matter where we live and no matter our abilities or resources. We have more fires. We endure more storms. The seas rise and the crops fail. Habitats shift or disappear altogether.
- Wars persist in spite of wise counsel to find common answers. As we see wars end, we also witness such disruption costs us additional lives. Too little harmony and too much death smear the globe with a patina of fear and hopelessness.
- Pandemics reach into all corners of life, challenging our sense of trust and safety. Our lives depend on science while our way of life gets sidelined until we can find a healthy balance of freedom and liberty and responsibility.
- Immigrants make their way to our doorsteps asking for a chance to survive and contribute and prosper. America promises a “golden door” that can open to a prosperity no other nation can deliver.
Multiple points of view are needed in our elections
You are wrong if you think you know all of the answers to these complex challenges. Whether you’re Republican or Democrat or Independent or from yet another political stripe, you are wrong if you think your politics are a bedrock of solid truth. You will be challenged no matter what “ism” you cling to that promises to make sense of it all. Stress comes to all of us.
Answers are mixed and revised continually as new realities become known. We need the news to help us sort it out and, sadly, the news can also distort and obscure the truth. Multiple points of view must be heard and tested and respected.
Most politicians are wrong as they discuss the history and workings of the Electoral College. They’re not alone. News pundits mistake how we get the results we do in presidential elections, never realizing almost half of the ballots cast are never considered by the Electoral College. That’s over 69 million votes cast aside in 2020, not nefariously nor by a steal. Were one of those ballots yours? Are you sure? Voting disenfranchisement has become common.
I’m often asked why I want everyone’s vote to matter when we select a U.S. President. The reason emerges from the reality we are now witnessing each and every day. We need multiple points of view, everyone’s vote, to matter.
All Votes Matter! tells how our presidential elections should work and why. The Electoral College can deliver a more inclusive result, hewing closely to how the nation votes on a state-by-state basis. The book is all about the process of voting because, after all, the process is as important as is the result!
Click here to read the Introduction to All Votes Matter!
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By Jerry Spriggs and the Equal Voice Voting Team