Jordan Kurland

Because I Like Having the Right to Vote

We’ve debated ad nauseam what a second Trump term would look like. Can it really be that bad? Would our outdated and delicate system of democracy, currently bound together by a fraying piece of duct tape, withstand a second time in office? Is the “leaked” agenda of Project 25 truly a harbinger of what’s to come?

What’s not up for debate is what Trump and his cronies would like to do. He’s been forthright about his plans time and again. To quote Maya Angelou, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” At the top of this long, harrowing list is installing an authoritarian regime in an effort to hold on to power for as long as possible. If successful, this sacred ritual that takes place every four years, where we, as US citizens, vote on who we want to be our nation’s leader, will be a thing of the past. 

The American experiment is young, and we take for granted that our democracy will remain intact (and that we will continue to be composed of fifty states, but let’s leave that for another conversation). There’s a long list of countries that have ping-ponged between democracy and dictatorship, and it’s well documented that fascism is a growing global trend. We’d be naive to think it couldn’t and wouldn’t happen here.

I worry what the lack of nuance in our society means for this election and our collective fate. In 2016 “protest voters” opted out of voting because they believed “there was no difference” between the two candidates. Once Trump was in office though, many of those same people took to the streets to denounce his policies. If he wins a second time around, we may not enjoy the freedom of voting or protesting for much longer.

History has shown that it is always possible for the worst-case scenario to become the real-life scenario. We have the power to prevent this outcome by exercising the exact freedom that is at risk. Please vote so we can all continue to do so. 

Jordan Kurland is an artist manager and festival producer.