Gray Matters

My first column that I ever wrote was for a periodic called the “Kansas Senior Times.”  I was asked to write articles of interest to older adults.

After some deliberation, I decided to call it “Gray Matters.”  My thought was that though we are older, we still matter.  And there are topics that matter to us.  And the gray matter, “our brain,” has so much stored in it by way of knowledge and wisdom, that it needs and should be shared.

Now, to the 2024 election.

A few years ago, I read that less than 1% of our population works hard to divide us, “to pit people against one another for their selfish aim.”  I suspect that number is higher now.  Much of our current election advertisements are trying to pit us against each other.  That approach urges us to make decisions based on hate, rather than rational judgment. 

I have written a similar article to this through several election cycles.  This year is clearly the hardest to articulate. 

Why? We have politicians saying false things over and over as news, until they convince people that they are true.  We have “news” outlets re-reporting those false items until people believe them. 

We all struggle finding a new source that we believe and/or can trust. Too many of us follow “news sources” merely because they say what we want to hear.  (Frankly, for me, I look at multiple news sources before I come to a conclusion.)

Let me repeat something that I said four years ago. I have an agenda when I vote.  I want my rights and my clients’ rights to be protected.  I want my clients not to worry about health care.  I want there to be adequate and affordable health services for them.

I want them to have financial security.  I want their businesses, farms, retirement, Social Security, and Medicare to be protected.  I want them to be safe in their homes; I want them to be safe outside their homes. 

I also want certain fundamental rights protected for those who may be of limited means or may be a member of a minority group, as well as those who have a “not so popular” religion or lifestyle.  I want to be sure that we have all the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and Bill of Rights – including free speech, the right to vote, privacy, religion, and a free press. 

So, that is my agenda; that is my test.  Let me add something that my grandfather taught me – do not trust someone who continues to lie, no matter how big or small the lie.  Walk away from that person.  That, too, is part of my litmus test of a candidate and whether I will support that candidate.  Regardless of what that candidate proclaims as his/her beliefs, if the candidate lies, I'm out of there. 

I urge you to develop your own litmus test.  Ask yourself, do I trust that person's word?  Do I trust that person to make a good decision when it is crunch time?

Greys matter.  You matter.  Please vote.