The Power We Have—and the Choice to Use It

When I listen to political discussions on television and podcasts, I often hear “agency” used to mean a person’s or organization’s ability to make decisions and act independently. I had previously associated the word with nonprofit and government organizations, not individuals. This broader meaning gives me a way to think about our power and responsibility as citizens: what we can decide for ourselves, and how we act on those decisions. Maybe it is a handy new buzzword, but the question it raises is worth discussing: how do we exercise our agency as citizens?

  • Who has agency in American society?
  • Do some people have more of it than others?

In our civics classes in public schools years ago, we never talked about citizenship as agency. Citizenship had responsibilities and duties. Citizenship was a right and it came with duties. One of them was to vote. And we learned the rules. In any election, each citizen had one vote and the candidate or proposition with the most votes won the day.

In a democratic society, a person’s vote is one atom in the whole body of social will. Each of us asserts agency through voting, as well as in other ways. But the vote is our most fundamental power. One vote is equal to any other person’s vote in a democracy when everyone votes.

But voting in most democracies is voluntary. Twenty-two democracies make voting compulsory. The United States is one of the voluntary voting nations. Here in the U.S. You are free to not vote.

Not voting increases the agency of every person who does vote. Within the smaller group of voters each voter has proportionally more power than any non-voter in determining a jurisdiction’s will with respect to candidates and ballot propositions. And candidates interpret the size of their majority as a mandate to achieve campaign promises.

Voting is not the only way we exercise agency. We can also express our views more directly to the legislators we elected to represent us. Even when we were in the minority in an election or disagree with a legislator on an issue, our opinions still deserve to be heard. By writing or calling our representatives, we remind them that we are still here and that we will hold them accountable at the next election. That works even when we talk to an assistant or leave a recorded message.

Our agency is more than our vote. The freedoms of expression, assembly and the press expand our agency even more. They provide other ways of gaining information and expressing our opinions in ways that can move the legislative needle and perhaps build new majorities.

Summing up, our agency as citizens in a democracy is an asset we should treasure and use. Authoritarian governments place agency fully in the hands of a single leader or group of oligarchs. The agency of individual citizens is mostly limited to the collective action of large groups protesting in the streets. And that often becomes deadly.

We have risen above that kind of government in the United States. Please help us keep it by using your agency and going to the polls to vote in this midterm election.

Let’s Have a Conversation

I have resisted writing here lately because my feelings about our politics are strong and I didn’t want to add to the toxicity of America’s current political discussion. But I have concluded that our society and our politics are in such a calamitous state that each citizen needs to do their best to help show the way to personal, political and societal salvation.

And it needs to be shared. America needs this discussion. I will try offer my small part and I will do it with love and respect for every American and all the people of the world.

Love and respect for the people with whom I agree is relatively easy. The president and all the people who call themselves MAGA or MAHA Republicans present the greater challenge as they would almost certainly not extend grace to me or anyone in the “Democrat” Party. But it isn’t really grace if you extend it only to the people you call friends.

Granted, it is hard to love and respect anyone who takes control of a government and operates it like a criminal syndicate. But we gave him that power through an electoral process that had served us well throughout our history, at least for the most part. So, there is little point in focusing the discussion on him.

Extending grace, love and respect to the people with whom we differ politically does not mean that they should be exempt them from legally established control and punishment. We are all subject to the law.

Removing the president from office may seem appropriate to his political opponents but that power is held by the legislative branch. He has been twice impeached by the House of Representatives but acquitted both times by the Republican majority in the Senate. Those of the president’s party who voted to convict are mostly leaving the Senate rather than face his retribution.

But this is only one area where the Republican congress has ducked for cover. It has refused to hold the administration accountable for its immigration policy and enforcement debacle, the wars against Iran and Venezuela, and full release of the files that document extensive wrongdoings of Jeffrey Epstein and his many monied friends. They have ignored corruption and looked the other way while the president has made a business of privatizing currency through what amounts to a Ponzi scheme.

I could go on. But, in brief, our government has failed.

Over the next few days and weeks, we can look at some things we all can do to right the ship and make our government work for the welfare of the people once again.

I will share my thoughts with you. I hope you will offer your own thoughts as comments at the end of this article.

Political Prophecy in “The Cougar”

I was viewing an old copy of The Cougar online the other day and I ran across this piece from the November 29, 1962 edition. I was a student at UH then but I do not remember seeing this piece by news editor, John Davis. It was written before the Kennedy assassination and the build up of troops in Vietnam.

I remember well the apathy of the early sixties but not this piece. It follows in full.

From The Cougar, University of Houston, November 29, 1962, Headlined: Today’s Apathetic Student To Lead World Tomorrow by John Davis

From the University of Houston’s Student Newspaper, “The Cougar,” in 1962

Young Republicans and Young Democrats at UH might as well pack up and go home. The fog of political apathy on this campus is impenetrable.

Two recent articles in The Cougar concerning politics brought letters only from those directly concerned. One an editorial concerning campaigning in the classroom brought a concurring opinion from the political science faculty.

The other, concerning the Student Peace Union, drew attention from four people: members of that organization.

The rest of the student body remained silent. Obviously few read it, and those who did probably didn’t understand it.

Reporters taking polls on the gubernatorial race discovered that apathy is not the only problem. Ignorance takes a strong second place. For example, two male students when quizzed on their choice between congressional candidates Baker and Casey, giggled and then picked Casey “because he’s a good doctor,” a girl shrugged and said that she didn’t know there was going to be an election, many weren’t familiar with any of the candidates, and few understood the difference between a primary and a general election.

The problem of political apathy and ignorance is certainly not new. George Washington complained about it.

A political science faculty member discussing the problem informally was reminded of an incident from ancient Greece. When the security of Athens was threatened, the citizens asked a philosopher if it were possible that Zeus might let their city be destroyed. The philosopher replied that if Athens fell it would not be the will of Zeus, but the stupidity of the Athenians.

Whether the enemy be external or internal, laxity and indifference is a breeding ground for tyranny. Anyone who feels that his vote doesn’t really matter and therefore he need not be concerned with the issues is shirking responsibility. Someone will take that responsibility for them. Too many times it has been a person like Adolph Hitler.

250 and Still Moving toward Democracy, Freedom and Justice

Here’s wishing everyone a happy Fourth of July.

There is much for us to think about after 250 years of independence from the crown. Racism persists despite a civil war that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, both by conflict and disease that was rife on the battlefields. We have moved only haltingly toward justice. We have yet to attain it; we continue the struggle. It is a struggle that goes on in every age.

With little expectation of achieving a full and final justice through political means, we can at least insist on fundamental fairness and support of the civic virtues of public education designed to provide people with the tools they need to perform the role of citizen and create an environment that is rooted in the rule of law.

The preamble to the Constitution of the United States provides the formula in the clearest and most concise terms. If we want a constitutional republic, we the people must provide its grounding.

A renaissance of public education and a revival of mature, private and free religion will set us back on the path from which we have strayed. One election will not fix it. One candidate will not fix it. One party will not fix it.

Do these things: pay your taxes; support your public schools; and practice the religion of your family’s tradition or do some reading and studying and follow a faith of your own choosing. But do not be influenced by algorithms dumped into social media by a plutocrat whose interests are to make more money and pay less taxes.

So, go out and march on No Kings Day. But that’s not enough. Vote. And here’s some advice from the church I attend: live every day as a citizen who loves boldly, serves joyfully and leads courageously. It’s a formula that can, once again, make this country the kind of place that has attracted people from other continents for all of our 250 years. And that has made us a beautiful country built on the strength of many colors and cultures.

Be proud of America. But we’re not done yet. Let’s get to work.

2020 – A SILENT GENERATION LAMENT

The cohort of Americans born between 1928 and 1945 has been called the Silent Generation. I didn’t know that I was a member of the Silent Generation until I wrote the piece below and I looked up “generation” in Wikipedia to see if I was indeed a boomer myself or, maybe, even an undeserving member of what they were calling the Greatest Generation. I found out that I am stuck in between the two. We are hardly noticed by the folks who try to generalize about the behavioral characteristics of people born in certain age cohorts.

I was late coming to the Silent Generation so my adult years were spent with talk everywhere about “boomers.” Marketing and media primarily addressed their needs and preferences. I heard so much about boomers that I subconsciously identified and, in any case, I was very nearly one myself since you could say that I was born on the cusp. But as I read more about those years between 1928 and 1945, I could see how completely my life was in the grip of that history.

What follows is very long. If you decide to read it, you will see that it is laid out like a poem. If it reads like prose to you, at least stop for a beat to think before going to the next line. Each bit of our history is loaded with plenty to think about. Yes, Truman and Eisenhower may not excite you. Ozzie and Harriet may bore you. But the kids who first learned about the world from floor model radios and small black and white screens had much to think about. And we have much to regret.

The piece is a personal project. It was completed during the 2020 election campaign and before the Biden-Harris election results were known. Although it was a hopeful sign, it didn’t really change much. But having lived through alternating and descending stair steps down into Trump hell, I know that it will take more than a single presidential election to get us heading onward and upward again. But we must continue the struggle. Loving boldly, serving joyfully and leading courageously is a model for individual living that will get us there. It is a formula for hope. Do all that and then put it to work in your VOTE.

Continue reading “2020 – A SILENT GENERATION LAMENT”

Happy Easter.

At the drugstore on Friday, the pharmacy assistant wished me a happy birthday as I finished paying. I corrected her, explaining it wasn’t my birthday but Good Friday. “Still,” I told her, “Easter is just as good a reason to be happy.”

A man in line had overheard the “Happy birthday” but missed hearing my correction. He came to me and pressed two twenty‑dollar bills into my hand with his own quiet “Happy birthday.” I tried to refuse and explained that her comment was incorrect, but he insisted, and our friendly argument continued even after we left the counter.

I’m older than most and get around with a cane. He had overheard the impressive amount I had paid for my two packets of pills. Maybe it was enough to make him feel sorry for me. But I am not needy.

When I finally decided that he wouldn’t relent, I asked him to name his favorite charity. He named the Wounded Warriors Project. I am sending them a check for $40 on Saturday.

If you witnessed his kindness—or if you are only reading about it here—I hope you’ll follow his example and make giving a central part of your life. When I think about it, maybe it’s a key lesson of Easter.