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• There’re concerns about America’s social affairs, so by this time next month we would have voted and be either happy about the results or heightened about how things went down.
• For America’s next chapter, we might begin to understand the nation as seen through power of the people and people in power, who serve by consent (courtesy) for our well-being.
• A role of government is to foster “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” through a civic exchange that’s not just a transaction as a voter, but also a positive transformation as a nation.

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The TV ads have begun ramping up…again! Depending on what tickles your fancy, you might have seen enough already, or you’re chomping at the bit for more. At this point in the year, you’ll get 30-sec commercial spots on candidates running for office and 15-sec spots of TV season premieres. It’s not a presidential year so the vitriol might be toned-down a bit, but the political snark often remains. For sports fans, October is a reminder of the intersection of major league baseball playoff, NBA season kickoff and WNBA finals knockoff, with some Halloween promos sprinkled in. There’s also something happening with store displays and on the airwaves, as earlier and earliest ads for the Christmas holiday season roll out. Maybe that’s enough of a mention here.

But, going back to the upcoming election, there’re concerns about whether outside forces or inside sources might try to bring chaos to the mix. By this time next month, we would have voted and be either happy about the results or heightened about how things went down. Those who treat the right to vote seriously will remember there was a time in American history and the civil rights movement that voting was seen as a must-do civic responsibility. Many fought and died, as we remember from the Bloody Sunday march in Selma Alabama. Not long after those events, President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke to the nation, throwing his full support to voting rights legislation.

Around the same time, Dr. King wrote an article that was published in the New York Times Magazine where he said, “voting is the foundation stone for political action.” Well, what if we re-visited those words and tweaked them for a younger audience today of 16/17-year-olds? How might that and the associated actions ring true today? Maybe we would get folks to see how giving the next generation a similar opportunity at a basic civic level might have them see “voting as a steppingstone for civic action.” It might even be a springboard for civic engagement in town & country, like learning to ride a bicycle or drive a car is a steppingstone to greater movement. Plus, it might help in connecting with social-edge drivers to re-awaken community spirit in America based on:

• Purpose: Whether it’s aligning actions with your life’s purpose, serving a common purpose or advancing a greater purpose, these elements, while not always obvious, are always relevant.    
• Project: The thing about a project is it allows you to develop untapped talents, relationships or skillset to reveal more playmaking moves or game-changing options in your performance toolbox.
• Points: What’s the point of doing something if it’s just about celebrating your score? It’s not simply about what you do, but what others might see in you, to make them score life points too.
• Privilege: There’s the notion of privilege we have that comes as a courtesy extended to us. There’s also privilege as a sense of entitlement that sometimes looks like a battle over happiness.

The idea of ‘privilege’ can get some folks thinking that all the happiness and America’s resources belong to them exclusively. When others say the word privilege, it can be a good thing, as in “an honor and privilege” being granted as a courtesy. But maybe a bad thing if it’s viewed as having a sense of entitlement for what should come their way. Whether dealing with a company, community, family or country, the word privilege can have important lessons of appreciation for the opportunity extended. But historically, having a ‘privileged’ attitude doesn’t put someone’s mindset, work or bias in a good light.

So, for America’s next chapter, we might instead begin to understand the nation, as seen through power of the people and people in power. This distinction takes into consideration what English philosopher and political theorist John Locke once described as “government by consent of the governed.” The voters (power of the people) elect the representatives (people in power) to serve by consent (courtesy) so that ‘we the people’ might enjoy “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Said another way as a purpose statement, we the people want to enjoy a ‘DOPE’ experience through a collective sense of:  

1. Duty

Cars today now come with a service light indicator which alerts the driver of action for the car’s well-being. Once the service action has been taken, the indicator light is reset for the next service interval. That example might seem like a simplistic way to think about public service, but it helps us relate to why voting is important. Elections are like a way of responding to the service indicator light. Who would you want to address the fix? Someone who seems ready and able with a sense of duty to the job, or someone who looks like they’re trying to get over on you? We ignore elections at the peril of our country’s well-being.         

2. Outcome

In professional circles there’s the notion of improving our efficiency as well as our effectiveness. One deals with having a better process, the other deals with having better outcomes. One way to achieve this is what’s been described as “beginning with the end in mind” and then rewind. Sometimes it seems as if instead of happiness being on the leading-edge, it’s instead in competition with political partisanship. Things that might bring more happiness don’t serve as the “end in mind” but dominate what some have in mind. As such, when there’s low happiness then bigotry, hate, evil, etc, get to slide in America’s DM.       

3. Place

What if America was seen as a place called ‘hope’, in a space known for happiness? Well, consider where there’s no hope people go astray, where there’s no happiness, people go awry. During times in American history we find when the nation was like a ship without a rudder, just tossing in the wind or with the waves, maybe even losing its bearing going astray. Then, other times, the nation was like a vehicle going over a cliff, losing its grounding. Things will often go awry when a vehicle loses its grounding, like severe injury or even worse. Which seems to describe us as a nation these days?

4. Exchange

What if there was a ‘Civic Exchange’, like we have in a Stock Exchange? When it comes to financial investments, we look at the stock reports to learn whether our investments are on the upswing or downswing. Depending on where the money is invested, we might move our chips around or review that there’s a balanced investment mix. Often when folks run for office, they ask for votes in exchange for bringing us some fix/value. That’s an aspect of the exchange. But what if there’s another way to look at the exchange where it’s not just a transaction as a voter, but also a positive transformation as a nation?             

It can be said that a role of government is to foster “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” We make that happen through the power of the people and the people in power, who serve ‘by consent of the governed.’ We can have a DOPE experience through a sense of duty, outcome, place and exchange as a community and nation. Remember, elections are a way of responding to social indicators. Who would you want to address the fix, someone who’s ready and able with a sense of duty to the job, or someone who looks like they’re trying to get over on you? We ignore elections at the peril of our country’s well-being.    

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Tracks: Pharrell – Happy – https://youtu.be/ZbZSe6N_BXs?si=ZnhAGHOx-RQAxnDc

Shaggy Ft Anthony Hamilton – I’m Good – https://youtu.be/8uUJJzrgjgc?si=0obTJcBwkBa3FIBZ