We vote in November because it is after the harvest and before the winter. We vote on a Tuesday because it gave people time to go to church on Sunday, to the local town by horse on Monday, vote on Tuesday, and attend market on Wednesday.
Of course little of this makes sense now and the voting day is hardly the most illogical part of our election process. The money involved, the ugly divisiveness of the campaigns, the seeming ineptitude of overly-idealistic candidates to resolve our very real problems – just a few of the aspects that provoke cynicism.
Otto Von Bismark supposedly remarked that laws are like sausages; the finished product is nice, but you do not want to see the process that made them. Democracy is as imperfect and disharmonious as any group of people brought together by circumstance. Not only is the final taste often more bitter and disagreeable than any sausage, but the pessimism of the process is often difficult to endure.
Nevertheless we vote. Boston awoke this morning with temperatures close to freezing and outside people wait in lines that are lasting between one and a half and two hours. There is optimism in those lines; a feeling that by working together life can be better. As often happens in the United States, the hype is unsettling. However, the sobriety of people who watch television instead of spending millions to use the media to manipulate is heartening. Democracy is our chance to be heard above the noise. Don’t miss your chance – vote!
Of course little of this makes sense now and the voting day is hardly the most illogical part of our election process. The money involved, the ugly divisiveness of the campaigns, the seeming ineptitude of overly-idealistic candidates to resolve our very real problems – just a few of the aspects that provoke cynicism.
Otto Von Bismark supposedly remarked that laws are like sausages; the finished product is nice, but you do not want to see the process that made them. Democracy is as imperfect and disharmonious as any group of people brought together by circumstance. Not only is the final taste often more bitter and disagreeable than any sausage, but the pessimism of the process is often difficult to endure.
Nevertheless we vote. Boston awoke this morning with temperatures close to freezing and outside people wait in lines that are lasting between one and a half and two hours. There is optimism in those lines; a feeling that by working together life can be better. As often happens in the United States, the hype is unsettling. However, the sobriety of people who watch television instead of spending millions to use the media to manipulate is heartening. Democracy is our chance to be heard above the noise. Don’t miss your chance – vote!
City of Boston's "Instructions to Voters" from the late 1880s. Click on image to enlarge.
