As I drive down the street I grew up on, a quiet straight away that is frequented by more deer than joggers, I notice something more surprising than the new houses being built where dense woods once were. Political endorsement signs line the White Road like rebel flags, signaling safe spaces for one side or the other, in numbers never seen before.
One doesn’t have to be of the political class to feel the pressure and anxiety of the pending election, both local and presidential, as well as the looming appointment of yet another Supreme Justice who will shape our laws for decades to come. Citizens are skeptical of the USPS and anxious to wait in lines during a global pandemic, waiting to cast their ballot. For some, it’s their only stroke of hope in the dark times we find ourselves in. There are two monoliths, two very specific futures and a Congress that will either guide or block them from coming to fruition. To put it simply, there’s a lot riding on this November’s election. An election happening during a year like we have never experienced has compounded these political anxieties by the confluence of other stresses: COVID-19, unemployment and financial hardship, death, and general uncertainty of the future.
It’s understandable to be irritated, mad and maybe even left feeling helpless and hopeless. Never have I ever seen a divide quite as big or as painfully sore as this one. Neighbors no longer wave once your allegiance is revealed. A donkey sculpture encouraging people to exercise their right to vote was burned to the ground. Real-life friends exhausting their unbudging opinions on social media until they give up on each other altogether. You’re either with us or against us. We’ve taken our irritation, our anger, and our helplessness and turned it on each other.
Political affiliation has shifted to tribalism that throws mutual gain and logic out the window for anything that can be perceived as a win for one side or the other, no matter how petty or factual. Anyone with a Twitter account or access to cable news has recognized this on a national scale. However, what is most concerning and heartbreaking to me as I walk the White Road is how deep it has penetrated the small the community in which I grew up, a place that has always been self-sustaining, a place where people look out for one another, a place where people waved at back at you no what was on their lawns.
I think we need to remember that the names on these signs are supposed to work for us. They are public servants that represent our ideas, our values, and not the other way around. While it’s incredibly important to vote and be motivated to mobilize for change, remember that it starts in our community. If you can’t find common ground with the people on your street, with your neighbor, how can we expect to find peace as a nation? Do we want to fight, or do we want to move forward? I see school busses of masked children and think, is this the world they deserve to inherit? Should I not see them as future citizens rather than worry which will be red or which will be blue?
While you’re getting pummeled with back-to-back political ads arguing polar claims, remember that we are ultimately responsible for the change we want to see. Unfortunately, until there is sufficient reform to our political system, a vote will only take you three-quarters of the way. It takes each and every one of you to build a community that we can be proud of. So, don’t give up just yet. There is hope. I have to admit that I tend to lean towards pessimism, but I see hope. I look at the Bowdoinham farmers stepping up during a global pandemic to keep their people fed. I look at the small businesses in Brunswick and Topsham being nimble and adapting to the needs of their customers. I see young people mobilizing for causes that they believe in and enacting real changes to help people who need it or build up others who, for far too long, have been cast down. I look at those children in the school busses who might think maybe we can do things better in the future.
As you go to the polls this November, remember that Donald Trump and Joe Biden have never heard of Bowdoinham, Maine. Remember that there’s a person who lives in the house behind that sign you disagree with. Remember that a divided people is one that is easily conquered.
Ethan Burnette lives in Bowdoinham.
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