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The Rich Fabric of Our Society
By lindamuralidharan on 2008-12-02 12:53:41
For me it is an article of faith that peaceful solutions are more likely to be found the more people in our democracy
participate in the process itself. Therefore I truly enjoyed my efforts this fall to register people to vote. I devoted my
limited time to lower income neighborhoods and neighborhoods with changing demographics. As my volunteer partner and
I registered folks in the party of their choice or in none at all, I found that there was a great deal of enthusiasm among the
people we talked to, and that we were really providing a service in helping people understand time lines for registering, their
right to choose a party or an independent status, how to apply for an absentee ballot, and where to find more information. A
few weeks later, I also went door to door in a similar area on behalf of my chosen presidential candidate. I got the
impression that these neighborhoods were not used to the many canvassers that come to my more economically advantaged
neighborhood during nearly every local or national election cycle. Even though some people were not in favor of the same
candidate I was endorsing, more often than not we were greeted with smiles and sometimes with eyes lit up with enthusiasm
about the coming election. During both endeavors I sensed appreciation that somebody cared enough to spend time, person
to person, citizen to citizen, in their "unfashionable" corners of town. I also spent a few hours this fall talking on the
telephone with a California friend who has had issues with substance abuse and mental illness. Although she has been clean
and sober for several years, she still struggles with many symptoms and challenges of her illness. Until the last couple of
years, she didn't really pay attention to public affairs or politics. Sometimes she would be concerned about mental health
services or an item in the news, and I would encourage her to study up on the subject and try to figure out which elected
officials or candidates for office would likely agree with her conclusions or opinions or needs. Finally last year she decided
she wanted to vote, that it was her responsibility to do so. Unfortunately, she became confused by the absentee ballot
application process, and it is not clear to me whether or not she followed through. This year she was determined. She
phoned me regularly with questions about the application and then the ballot itself. California had a lot of propositions and
initiatives on the ballot, and I know from having lived there for 26 years that these can be very confusing. The wording of
each can seem to mean the opposite of what they intend in many cases. My friend and I therefore spent a lot of time, with
her reading the wording and the voters' information pamphlet to me, trying to understand the pros and cons of each so she
could make her own informed choice. Well before the deadline for absentee ballots, she mailed it in, and then she phoned me
to tell me of her accomplishment. And more than that, she wanted me to know how wonderful it felt. She said that now she
knows why I had always urged her to become informed and vote. She said that participating in our national process resulted
in her feeling a part of something and that she had never really felt part of society before, but now her own actions gave her
that sense of belonging. I am, of course, thrilled for my friend, for that one individual and her good feelings. More than that,
though, I believe I was able in a very small way to help build a more participatory democracy. Our historical institutions
give us the framework to exercise our rights and freedoms, yet it is each of us as individuals that need to put them to good
use. I do this because I believe in the long run the wisdom of the people is greater than the wisdom of any one leader or set
of leaders. I also believe the wisdom of the people will lead us down the path of peace one step at a time.
