So go the lyrics of a song from the old Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof”, a story set in Russia about a family of Jews before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Its main theme is that we should enjoy and value life and each other each day as it comes because it is as unstable as a fiddler playing tunes on a tiled roof. There is much wisdom in this. You have to be aware of this instability and live in the moment and be willing to do the work to appreciate, love, let go of things that need to be let go, and keep what needs to be kept safe. Democracy takes work.
If we want to live in a democracy of any kind, then we have to exert the effort to make it work. It is very much like a marriage or parenthood in that respect. If you don’t work at it, you will lose it. It will go stale and the people in it will cease to care about it. When that happens, people drift apart. Conflicts start and before you know it, the ties are broken and it has been destroyed.
We have to participate, we have to vote, and we have to keep going from now on. Let’s start teaching our children in 4th/5th grade the real history of this country and why voting matters. Let’s teach them when women and black americans got the vote and why it is still hard for some people to gain access to the voting booth. Let’s get them fired up. We need that fire.
Do you want to continue to live in a democracy? Great, then vote in every election. Go to town halls, board of commissioners, elections, schools, zoning, recreation, etc. and find out what your officials are up to. Ask questions and let them know that you are watching them. It makes a difference. It really does.
Early voting is here. Election day is Nov. 8. Make your plan to vote. Don’t allow the sun to set before you have participated in the greatest means of government in the world.
Wright4Georgia 