What's at Stake in 2006? Norman Lear Responds
 |
Norman Lear, creator of such prominent television programs as All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, and many more, is the founder of People For the American Way. |
When I think about the right to vote, I think about my grandfather who raised me for many years. He was not born in this country, but as an immigrant he led the American life that he thought he came here to lead. He wrote the President constantly, voted in every election, saw every parade that was anywhere in his vicinity, and cried when the flag went by. So for me, the right to vote was like the right to breathe.
As I grew up, I was surprised that, in America, getting the keys to the car and the right to drink were the main transitions into adulthood for young people. The right to vote has never been the rite of passage that it should be. I think it should be the most important of the rites of passage, especially as we view the world and its difficulties today.
Today, there is more animus in our culture than any time in my 85 years. The world is on fire; the people of the world are really troubled. That is why it is particularly important to vote in this election. People who are indifferent to voting often argue that they only have one vote, and that it does not really make a difference. They do not believe that their opinion is important. But when counting ballots, it is impossible to count one person as any more important than another. Everyone matters equally, and that’s why voting matters. Let me put it this way: Given the magnitude of the Creator’s enterprise here – this being a single planet of which they tell us there could be billions, floating in a universe among –what?—a million, perhaps a billion more universes? -- is it possible to measure how much any one of matters vis-à-vis any other one of us.
We ALL matter equally in God’s view and in the view of the entire world which is certain to be watching if and how Americans vote.