We have to vote, eh?

It's getting closer, the time to decide....

 

I always vote, unless something interferes.

Sitting with friends recently, we fired up a chat with Russell Brand, from the UK, on You Tube. He was talking about why it doesn't make sense to vote, because it just perpetrates the status quo. Everything stays the same, no matter who you vote for. Russell is looking for the deep revolution...

 

Russell is worth watching just to hear the words flow off his tongue. And he has a vision, calling on the best we can be as humans, and using our compassion and intelligence to achieve it. I get that.

 

I also listened to Bernie Sanders in the US, saying he is not using all the political tools in the tool box, like big donations from big companies. He wants to be funded by the people who want a change in the balance between the 1% and the rest.  He believes that it is possible.

 

I listened to Catholics discussing the Pope's visit to the US, saying Pope Francis wants global unity, and compassion for each other, and a move away from accumulation in our personal lives, and large profits for the minority. They believe that such a vision has a place in the US, a country with the 1% dedicated to themselves.

 

I listen to the concerns of the people around me here in Canada, as we come close to our own Federal election in October. Concerns about the environment and the influence of big corporations, the lack of services for all the people who need them.

 

Most of the people I know want a change of government, and talk about strategic voting-voting out our current government, and voting in Any Other Party.

 

I did not vote for this government we have now. I appreciate strength and attention to infrastructure, I have a long history of voting liberal, and I have decidedly socialist views when I talk about people, and needed services. I am a middle. Here in our country the leaders can not stray far from some middle ground. The people insist on a middle ground here. However, lots of choices have been made over the last years that swing too far away from caring for the majority of the people. Too much support has been given to choices that will take a lot of work in the future to undo. 

 

I understand why decisions are made that go against what most people want. But no one in a position of power can stay there if too many decisions are made that go against most of the people.

 

We will stay close to the middle ground that most people want, if the people are informed, if we are alert and let each other know, if we use our own platforms of influence, if we show up in numbers to support or criticize decisions, on paper or in person... 

 

Love Russell Brand, love his verbal acuity working for our common good. But I do not agree with Russell about not voting at all. I understand how manipulated people are as they move closer to the centers of power.  But we still have a say. The candidates that want to try again, or try for the first time, to sit at the tables where choices are made are doing their best to talk about what they hear we all want. And their job is not easy, to satisfy a wide range of people, and keep to a middle ground to be sure they get a seat at the table.

 

The most powerful, inspiring messages I hear have a vision of global compassion, and strength built on the health of all of us, our collective intelligence, and the health of the Earth that gives us life. 

 

So, when I am choosing who to vote for, I am listening for practical solutions embedded in a vision of care, compassion for all, and intelligence. That, I believe, is the middle path that most choose, at least in times of crisis, and when the eyes of others are upon us.  

 

I am looking for leaders who can handle all situations, from a celebration to a world crisis, and who are good at inspiring people to be their best, together.

 

And leaders who work hard to give more people the means to help each other.

It takes strength of character, intelligence, insight, and a good team!

We are a part of that team.

 

So, I will vote in our Federal election coming up.

 

I will listen to the people whose values I trust, and who are making it their business to know what is going on behind the scenes.

 

I will take their advice on strategic planning, if that's what it takes to put my vote where it will get us all closer to the side of the middle that sounds like it has the most compassion and intelligence. Compassion for those around us, and for our creatures, and land. Compassion for others, global compassion. And the intelligence to get us there by making use of the best within us all.

 

How do you choose to vote?