Voting thoughtfully in contentious times
For a year and a half, we have stood, nearly every Friday afternoon, on the corner of Wheelock and Main in Hanover, protesting policies of the Trump Administration. Saturday mornings we often join a group of senior citizens on Lyme Road. We carry American flags and posters that name the cruel policies we believe harm our fellow Americans, our country, our Constitution and our futures. We worry about our grandchildren. Most often cars driving by will signal support by honking, or showing a thumbs up.
Sometimes, a car will drive by and the occupants will shake their heads or offer a thumbs down. That is their right to express disagreement, but we don’t have the opportunity to have a dialogue. More rarely, someone, from the safety of their car, will ‘offer’ a middle finger or shout an obscenity at us. (Arthur wonders why they would behave this way to an 86 year-old woman.) One day an attractive blonde woman approached Arthur at the corner of Main and Wheelock and shouted: “Do you want your daughter to be raped by an immigrant?” Before he could recover from shock, she shouted at him two more times. (Actually, he does not want any woman to be raped by anybody.) We seem to be an intensely angry country. Surely, we can find ways to listen and respect each other.
The most encouraging parts of demonstrating have been the ad hoc conversations with Dartmouth students and other pedestrians. Students may thank us for being there and sometimes express their worries about the future. We urge them to vote.
A recent writer to the Valley News was listing his reasons why not to vote. While we may agree with many of his concerns about threats to our democratic republic, and about the gross inequalities he mentions, not voting should not be an option for us. Yes, think about how corporate special interests and dark money are distorting our election processes. Read, listen, think, then make the best possible choices — and vote.