Can we, should we, have hope in politics? | News, Sports, Jobs – Alpena News

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.” — Robert Fulghum

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” — Ronald Reagan

You know the story.

Americans’ views of politics are more dismal than ever, and on almost every metric.

Political system working well? Just 4% say so, according to the Pew Research Center last month.

Trust in government? Just 16%.

Political parties? Nearly three in 10 say both major political parties suck.

Nine in 10 Americans say they’re at least sometimes exhausted when thinking about politics. Roughly the same number say politics makes them angry.

Just 10% say they’re always or often hopeful about politics.

Our politicians have certainly built a system that seems void of hope.

Crisis at the southern border. High prices. A lack of leadership in the U.S. House. Ethics questions at the nation’s highest court. Our former president facing 91 criminal charges and our current president under congressional investigation for potential involvement with his son’s alleged crimes. Two wars on the global stage. Repeated failure to fund the government. Conspiracy theories. Meanness all around.

The system isn’t working the way it’s supposed to work — if you can say it’s working at all — and no one could blame an American for losing hope.

Voting should be an act of hope — hope that your candidate can make the world a better place, that your candidate can affect policies that improve the lives of you, your kin, and your neighbors, that your candidate can solve at least some of the many problems facing our planet, our nation, our state, or our community.

If people head to the polls without hope, that means they’re not casting a ballot for something. They’re casting a ballot against something. They don’t as much want their man or woman to win as they want the other man or woman to lose.

And, when we vote against someone, we send our representatives to the halls of Congress and to statehouses and to town halls to be against the other side, too. We make it their very mission to tear down their opponents instead of lifting the people they represent.

And that starts the cycle of hatred, division, and ineffectiveness all over again and saps us of hope again.

Our leaders have a responsibility to give us hope. They ought to rise above pettiness and greed and work to solve big problems. Our leaders ought to unite, not divide, by trying to improve the lives of all of their constituents and all of the communities they serve. They ought to appeal to our better angels, not our smallest vindictiveness.

It can’t just be words. Actions must follow.

Bipartisanship.

Compromise.

Progress.

Perhaps, if a true leader or leaders stepped up to show us something like that, America could start to believe in the system our forefathers designed.

But we have to demand that our leaders breed hope and optimism, which inspires positive actions. If they don’t give us that, we need to send them packing. We have to stop sending incumbents who’ve let us down back to Washington or Lansing or the local city hall.

It’s important that we believe in our system of government.

Government is not the answer to all or even most of our problems. We as a people — through charity of our time, talents, and other resources — have more power to effect lasting change in our communities than the government can.

But the government has mighty powers and affects us — positively or negatively — every day.

When we lose hope that the people with control over the levers of those powers will use them in ways that push us — all of us — toward prosperity, we begin to disengage. When we’re exhausted and angry, we turn our attention to other, less wearying things. At the very least, we stop believing our leaders can make a difference, so we stop caring what they do once they’re in office.

And, when we’re not paying attention, the people with their hands on the levers will invariably start cranking them for their own gains instead of ours.

So demand hope and inspiration from your candidates. Demand positivity and unity. Demand that they work toward a system you can believe in, stay engaged with, and hope for.

Demand a candidate you can vote for, instead of the lesser of two evils you have to settle for.

Justin A. Hinkley can be reached at 989-354-3112 or jhinkley@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinHinkley.