This is a voting story. I’m deliberately submitting it BEFORE we know the results of the 2020 presidential election. This year I had three friends, all previous NONVOTERS, cast their vote, in part perhaps because I kept talking about how important voting is. Two had to register to vote for the first time; one found she was still registered. All are white women who fall into the lower-income demographic. They all called at various times to inform me they voted FOR TRUMP. Now, I didn’t ask for whom they voted; that was none of my business, and I didn’t want to know. They told me anyway. Am I sorry that they voted? (I happen to be an avowed progressive.) Absolutely not! Given where we live, I’m unsurprised by the way they voted. But now they have performed an act of CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, and that is a good thing, to be commended, no matter what. I’m never going to condemn a fellow citizen for the ACT OF VOTING just because I dislike the candidate for whom they cast their vote. To do that, in my view, invalidates the process of our democracy, and we need this more than ever right now.
🎧 Automation promises greater productivity, yet workers risk losing the relationships, experience and sense of purpose that give their careers value.
