For far longer than I care to admit, I was one of those people implicated when the annoying public radio drives would come on:
“Maybe you listen every day. Public radio is an important, even essential, part of your life. But you haven’t yourself committed to supporting it.”
It’s been a long time, but there were (gaw!) years when laziness and a challenged budget, whatever, let me let others carry the ball.
You might be one of those people in relation to voting. You’re sick of the drives, sick of the pressure, sick of the whole damn donkey and elephant show. Privately, you might be telling yourself no one will know if you just sit it out. And you have to work or whatever and the system is corrupt as fck anyway.
You might not believe that this country is flirting with fascism – or care.
You might not look back at history and wonder how societies themselves support (or – worse – support by default) rising authoritarian regimes. As someone of German descent, who has fretted a lot about how forces of hatred come into power in a highly ‘civilized’ society and develop their own ‘creative’ expression of fevered nationalism and vilification of ‘the other,’ I am given evidence, in this moment, in this country, that it doesn’t ‘just happen,’ that we are offered a chance as individuals to inject our voice, to reject hatred and fear and ignorance and inhumanity and runaway greed.
One way or another WE change history. To not act is to act. Don’t fool yourself. There is no sitting on the sidelines.
For God’s sake, do your part and vote.
… Oh and support public radio – every contribution matters.
—laura hohlwein
Flommist Laura Hohlwein is a contemporary abstract surrealist. Copyright © 2018 Laura Hohlwein. Image source.
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