Stossel and Lowe on Elections

On Election Day, John Stossel wrote a piece that offers a dose of perspective that we Americans are fortunate enough to need reminding about from time to time:

Image by chilla70, via Pixabay, license.

No matter who wins this election, we don't need to wait for government permission to solve our problems.

Left to our own devices, we adapt and innovate. Without direction from Washington.

A final, most important thing to consider if that horrible other candidate wins:

You and I are not normal. We spend time reading about politics.

Most Americans don't. As one told me, "We have lives!"

Most of what really makes life worth living -- family, friends, music, love, religion, recreation, hobbies, art, food, travel, health -- doesn't depend on who is in power.

Politics is loud and sometimes unavoidable. Yes, the American government has grown so much that it now sucks up nearly 40% of our money. Yes, it sometimes stops us from doing good things. Yes, its mandates are often stupid and counterproductive.

But government is just one piece of a much bigger picture.

The real magic of life happens where you live. [bold added]

This perspective may well be hard to keep over the next four years -- and for my fellow travelers, this would have been the case even if Harris had won -- but it is crucial to do this for the sake of sanity and to keep one's compass in what promise to be turbulent times.

Being interested in cultural and political change is nuts unless that interest has preceptual-level and deeply emotional anchors to the facts of reality. Appreciation for what's there is what keeps us going, and it's what will motivate us -- those of us with more than a "normal" interest in such things -- to fight back in whatever way we can.

Regarding that last, my favorite science blogger, Derek Lowe, concretizes what this can mean for an intellectual activist. And again, it also would have applied, although often to different specifics, in the wake of a Harris victory:

[I]f you allow yourself to become totally outraged every time there's something that under normal circumstances would be worth being totally outraged about, you'll never make it. Because these aren't normal circumstances. Slow down. Take a deep breath. Take some time to work out what the most efficacious thing you can do about any given outrage might be and when might be the best time to do it, and where it ranks next to all the others. I will be following this advice personally, so don't expect to see rapid reactions here to every single hideous thing that happens.

We're going to need our energy, our stamina, and our hope for better things to make it out of all this intact, because there's going to be a lot of work to do after this is over. Keep working steadily to make sure that it does indeed pass. Be strong, and stay strong... [bold added]

This last reminded me a little of a partisan in-law from the left coast who seemed to spend the entirety of Trump's first term ... obsessing about Donald Trump. But there's no room for smugnes this time around. Trump is, if anything, nuttier and better-prepared: Folks who would otherwise forget all about politics may need to work some to keep from having him live rent-free in their heads 24-7.

Do not allow this threat to what you love cause you to forget what you love.

-- CAV