This year’s election is about our values

In less than two weeks, we will have the opportunity of a lifetime.

Voters will do something millions of people in the world still do not: Vote in a free, multi-party, binding, democratic election. And the decision voters make could, indeed, affect their lifetime and the lives of their children.

These decisions in this upcoming election, whether you want to believe it or not, are about values.

• The value of money

• The value of economic diversity

• The value of good-paying jobs

• The value of honesty

• The value of ethics

• The value of technology

• The value of education

• The value of schools

• The values of our children and grandchildren

• The value of a sound future in the 21st century

There is a plethora of candidates on this year’s ballot. We urge that you cast your vote on November 5, you vote carefully and positively; not against anyone or anything, but for your principles, your beliefs and the candidates that most match yours.

While much emphasis has been placed during the campaign season on the presidential and U.S. Senate and U.S. House races, the choice that could most significantly affect your lifetime and that of your children or grandchildren could very well be the races closest to home.

Those decisions made at the local level, like the ones to be made in Socorro or Catron County, are the ones that will decide our future well into the 21st century.

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I still remember the first time I voted in a presidential election. I was young, naïve and under the impression that we lived in a free country where everyone got to vote for whomever we wanted. So, when an acquaintance asked me who I’d cast my ballot for, I told him.

You’d have thought I blew up the voting booth. I don’t remember his exact words, but I do remember that he called me a nitwit. Then he questioned my intelligence and lectured me about my poor judgment. I was so ashamed that I promised to ask him for advice before I voted the next time. Not really.

He apologized later, but it was too late. I’d already decided that politics is too dangerous to discuss. If anything, it’s worse now. I think these days I’d be lucky to get off just being called a nitwit.

I’m no longer young (I’ve stumbled into ‘old fart’ status), but I might still be naïve because I hold out hope that someday we’ll be able to talk politics without name calling or fist fighting.

Growing up my family was equally divided on which political party they supported. My mother’s father was a diehard ‘FDR Democrat’ while my father’s family were dyed-in-the-wool Republicans. When it got close to Election Day … we didn’t talk politics at the kitchen table. Any conversation was ‘nipped in the butt.’

My father never tried to change anyone’s mind. He’d remind us, it never works, and it only annoys people. Just try to understand their point of view. Listen without judgment and be polite.

Remember despite our different political differences with friends, family and others … it doesn’t make anyone a bad person. Civil discourse is a good thing. It helps people understand others’ perspectives, make better decisions, and contribute to society’s progress.

As the old 1971 Alka-Seltzer commercial reminds us: “Try it, you’ll like it.”