Today is election day. As always, THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIME! Silly, but I suspect it may actually be true today.
Today we find out whether the American People regret the mistake they made in 2008 or whether they actually intended to dissolve the United States of America as embodied in the Constitution and create something different.
This election, more than most, is a clear choice: One side advocates for equality of outcome, the other side for equality of opportunity. One side believes that the charter of government is to make sure “all men are . . . equal.” There ought to be a chicken in every pot, a roof over everyone’s head, everyone making $60,000 a year with good benefits, everyone able to retire at 65 with a good income and their needs taken care of. It sounds lovely.
The other side – my side – believes that as Lincoln says “all men [should have] an equal chance.” I believe in opportunity without boundaries, good education according to needs of the child and community, the ability for mothers and fathers to decide for themselves how best to prepare their children for the future. I want to be able to prepare for my own retirement, pay for my own roof over my head and earn my chicken – and the pot – by the sweat of my brow. Level the playing field, yes, but only so we all have the chance to run as far and as fast as we can without impediment.
Does this mean there will be winners and losers? Of course, but there will always be winners and losers. That’s human nature. Harness the desire to be a winner by incentivizing winning and make it so the struggle to win will better everyone’s lives. Allow people to build a better phone to get rich and we’ll all end up with mind-bogglingly powerful, always connected communication devices in our pockets for less than the cost of a television. Demand that the rich live in a modest ranch house in suburbia with no more meat on their table than their neighbor and what’s the point of building a better phone for all of us? We’re all going to end up the same, why bother?
Today I proudly voted for equality of opportunity: everyone has a chance to play, nobody picks winners or losers and nobody builds stumbling blocks to progress. We’re all in it together, yes. And the best way to get us all to work a little harder is to offer greater rewards for our hard work.
I hope that November 6, 2012 will not prove to be the day that the United States confirmed its decision to dissolve itself. I expect it to be a new beginning.
Not that my vote counts. I live in New Jersey.