In the midst of societal collapse, high voter turnout gives me hope

COMMENTARY: If it feels some days like everything is collapsing around us, perhaps that’s because it is.

The alliances and systems we created after World War II that ushered in the modern era are shaky. Populism that’s fueled largely by anti-immigrant and pro-nationalist sentiment is spreading across the globe.

In the United States, people who are pushing anti-immigrant and pro-nationalist policies and actions control our federal government. Congress is refusing to be a check on the executive branch. Many religious institutions that in the past might have pushed back against government overreach and corruption have sold their beliefs for political power.

Even at the local level, society is in trouble. Many communities are left without a single journalist to watchdog government, and that has a documented cost in terms of public dollars lost to waste and corruption. Much of our infrastructure, like schools and bridges, is literally crumbling.

Looming behind it all is the dark money being spent by the wealthiest people on the planet to tear the rest of us apart, and the warming climate that is on the brink of a potentially catastrophic shift that may lead to displacement, famine and natural disasters – and almost certainly war.

As a dad, I’m afraid. I find this moment in history incredibly discouraging. To whom should we turn? It isn’t clear.

Nationally, the Republican Party I grew up with – one that promoted fiscal responsibility and argued that character and morality mattered – has been usurped by a deficit-spending president who speaks falsehoods daily and appears to lack a moral compass, empathy or the ability to show respect for others, a man who also apparently engaged for decades in an illegal tax-evasion scam.

That said, there’s not a Democrat publicly pondering running for president in 2020 who I think can motivate the nation to unseat Donald Trump or who has articulated the vision needed to bring about the change we need. The Democratic Party, whose strategy for decades has been to act like a milquetoast version of the GOP, helped enable the long, painful decline that brought us to this moment.

In New Mexico, we’re likely about to return to the same one-party dominance that plagues Washington, only in reverse. Voters who are disappointed in outgoing Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, and fed up with Washington Republicans will likely give Democrats total control in Santa Fe – even though Democrats, with a few exceptions, have yet to articulate what they’ll do to improve New Mexico that’s any different than anything they’ve done in the past that hasn’t worked.

Most Democratic candidates’ campaigns have been largely anti-Trump, not pro-something that would radically improve New Mexico government and society.

It’s hard to focus on the Roundhouse, though, when the president is shamelessly militarizing border communities for political gain and, with his words and actions, has literally activated terrorists, intentionally or not, who have targeted Jews, Democrats and journalists in recent days. The white nationalists who tend to support Trump would create a society in which my girlfriend, our daughters, and others in my mixed-ethnicity family have no place. I fear what the future may bring.

Lately I’ve been spending as much time outside on the weekends as I can. It’s helping me find some peace and giving me space to ponder. But it’s also provided a stark reminder of what’s vanishing.

We’re losing our forests in New Mexico. The kelp forests of northern California’s coast have all but vanished in the past few years. Scientists say we have only years to make dramatic worldwide economic changes to combat climate change, or else.

One prominent economist told The New York Times he doesn’t expect humans to choose to act now. He thinks we’ll wait a few decades, until many poorer nations are pushed into chaos by warming temperatures. The wealthiest nations will have the means to adapt, and that’s when we’ll be forced to change so some of us can survive.

In the meantime, The Machine has turned southeastern New Mexico into an extraction colony – and our state-level politicians are discussing how to spend the billions of extra dollars that gives New Mexico instead of debating whether we should embrace the destruction of our planet.

The world we’re going to hand to our children is not a happy one. But being outside, immersed in the immutable wisdom of the planet, I’ve discovered one thing that has me encouraged.

People are voting. You’re voting across New Mexico, from blue, urban Doña Ana County to red, rural Sierra County, in nearly unprecedented numbers. People are voting across the nation at historic rates.

Sometime in the past few decades, with the elimination of civics courses in school and the corporate takeover and watering down of the media, our society lost its sense of civic duty. That’s what allowed the powers-that-be to grab more power, build a military machine that turned the United States into an oligarchical, global empire, and pillage our planet until it’s on the brink.

But all the dark money in the world can’t control people if we choose to vote. In this moment, to whom should we turn? I think the answer is ourselves.

Vote in this election, please. Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, independents, members of minor parties. All of you. Our cities and state and nation need you. The refugees and displaced people migrating across the globe need you. The dying ecosystems in the most fragile points in our forests and oceans need you.

If you have children, take them with you to vote. Talk with them about the importance of civic engagement. Prepare them to take over the fight.

Voting isn’t enough. Whatever happens on Election Day won’t fix this mess. But it’s a start. Do it. And then stay involved. We have a responsibility to our children to fight for their future.

Heath Haussamen is NMPolitics.net’s editor and publisher. Agree with his opinion? Disagree? NMPolitics.net welcomes your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary here.