Alan Zendell, November 3, 2024

As we approach the moment of truth, if such a thing still exists, what is on the line in next Tuesday’s election is whether the system of government and the way of life our founders envisioned can survive. That’s not just political rhetoric. Viewed from the perspective of history, it’s something that would have a discouraging betting line in Las Vegas. Throughout human history no other system survived the test of time.

Every society that reached a level of success and enlightenment in the last few millennia no longer exists. Either they were conquered in war or, more likely, they rotted from within. When Donald Trump refers to “the enemy within,” he’s onto something, but it’s not what he says it is. Every civilization that evolved to the point where its people weren’t constantly in survival mode or defending themselves, thus allowing things like philosophy, religion, and industry to flourish and grow, ultimately forgot that the relatively comfortable life style it achieved comes with a price.

It’s like families that struggle, work hard, and prosper enough to own their dream homes. They build beautiful, crime-free neighborhoods, enroll their kids in Little League and the best schools. Everyone takes pride in what they accomplished, but look at those neighborhoods a few decades later. How many people who live there understood what it would cost to maintain that quality of life? How many prepared for it, and when things started to break down or decay, how many accepted the effort needed to preserve what they had built?

When we’re too comfortable, most of us get lazy. Football and vacations become more important than paying attention to what’s happening around us. We become complacent that we’ve reached a plateau of security, but the moment we start to believe we don’t have to continue to struggle to maintain what we built, we’re doomed to the same fate as Rome, Greece, the Incas, Mayans, Aztecs, and all the ancient peoples in Asia and the Middle East.

The shameless destruction of truth perpetrated by Trump’s MAGA movement, enabled by an unregulated Internet that allows anyone with a talent for communicating to promulgate any sort of nonsense that occurs to them has brought us to the worst existential crisis since the Civil War. That crisis is exacerbated by our two-party system. Our early leaders didn’t understand that a two-party system only works well when people on both sides are committed to upholding the principles on which their society was based.

In our case, that’s the Constitution. Our politics has always been nasty, as one would expect when people compete for power and the wealth that accompanies it. But for the last 180 years, the sharp divisions among our leaders never resulted in doing away with the rule of law or the growth of a major political party whose principal objective was undermining our democracy.

That’s why this election so critical. The Republican Party that once stood for true Conservative values and adherence to the spirit of the Constitution has become the tool of a madman who craves absolute power. He would take us back to a version of the American dream in which rights, opportunities and the pursuit of happiness were the province of white men with the means to own property, when women and non-whites were at best, second-class citizens under the domination of those white men.

It’s really that simple. If that’s the America you want for your children and grandchildren, vote straight Republican. If it’s not, don’t let anyone influence your vote, including me. I have enough respect for Americans to trust you to make the right decision. For the next two days, let’s ignore all the phone calls, texts, and emails from billionaire PACS. Turn off social media and ignore the pundits and what passes for news these days. Just this once, it’s okay to watch football and indulge in all the wrong foods with friends and family. When it’s time to vote, remember – your vote belongs to you alone, and it’s a secret ballot.

Above all, ignore the polls. At this point they’re irrelevant, unless you believe what I predicted in August – that Harris would not only win, but she would do surprisingly well in red states, especially Iowa (wink.) If you are a woman, of Puerto Rican descent, part of an immigrant family, or non-white, have a look at Project 2025 and think really hard about what it means for your family.

This isn’t hype. If we allow a power-crazed minority to nullify our Constitution, we will all suffer. My sharpest memory of visiting the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam was the photograph of Nazi troops marching in the streets outside her window. If you think that can’t happen here, think again.