To the Editor:
Regardless of your political persuasion, you can rest assured given the United States 244 year history, that the probability is very high that “We the People” will continue to survive and prosper.
There have been contentious elections in the past. In fact, to date, three sitting presidents did not attend the inauguration ceremony of the incoming president. (We may have the fourth president not to attend this January.) Certainly acrimony was high and disaster predicted in, at minimum, those three three (four) elections. However, the United States Constitution and The Bill of Rights survived. Survived for 244 years to be exact.
Also, U.S. Citizens have retained their right to liberty, freedom and pursuit of happiness. The outcome of this election is highly unlikely to result in anything different than what has occurred over the past 244 years. Sure, it’s easy to get “caught up in the moment” and claim this time will be different.
However, if history is our guide, that will not be the circumstance. If caught up in the moment consider the following:
1) Carl Sagan once said: “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” and
2) historians are smart enough to know, by studying history for years, that it takes quite some time to pass before historians and collective historical mindset “forms its judgement” regarding a U.S. president and the impact on the United States. In the meantime, life will go on as usual.
Want some quick proof? Simply disengage yourself from all political media and discussion for a week. Really, eschew TV, computer, phone and newsprint political content and also forgo any political discussion for a week. Guess what? First, you will likely be more mentally serene and better able to reflect and think and likely less aggressive as well. Second, you may find everything around you is OK, maybe good or even great! And, third, after a week you will surely realize (excluding a statistical outlier) that absolutely nothing has really changed.
Next: Try it for another week. With a high degree of probability the second week will be a duplicate of the first week’s experience. When you experience the actual evidence for yourself you may find out nothing extraordinary is happening and you are feeling OK, good or even great! (You can choose to make a political moratorium part of your regular regime. The results are sure to be pleasantly enlightening.)
With that: Hope you are having a Happy Thanksgiving weekend! It’s that time of the year for people to come together and give thanks for all the good there is in our world.
Randal Larson
Village of Country Club Hills
