The Farmer’s Field: Election Season

’Tis the season. Again. 

I’m a farmer, so I primarily run my life depending on which season it is. Typically, while everyone else is on camping trips and hanging out at the lake during the summer season, we are working.  

A person can’t grow much here in Wyoming with the five or six months of winter we get, so we must seize the moment. 

Summer means tilling, planting, harvesting and a whole lot of other things that take up nearly every minute. There’s honestly just not much downtime. It means long hours and late nights, but frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am blessed in more ways than I can even understand.

This time, however, the season I am referring to is election season. Just like farming, it seems we get one behind us and here comes another one. This perpetual cycle of ads, yard signs, billboards, mailers and parades full of hopeful politicians, seem to be in constant swing.  

While I think our system is the absolute best in the world and has helped build the most prosperous nation the world has ever known, it most certainly does not exist without its faults.  No system does.  

Without question, despite how we may feel about certain rules or regulations or issues like taxation or the function – or dysfunction – of government, we are immensely free people. I would argue no one in the world experiences the vastness and blessings of freedom more than the people who live in the U.S.  

The founders of our country purposefully molded and shaped such an effective system it created the most powerful and prosperous nation in the history of the world. 

These men declared, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  

For the time in which they lived and the tyranny they found themselves oppressed by, this was an incredibly bold and visionary statement.    

It is my belief these few words are ingrained in our very nature as citizens of this country today. Ultimately, it is what helps catapult us to greatness because we are free to think and to “be” and because we are free to create and pursue. 

The American engine of limitlessness and ingenuity helps to drive us to do more and to become more. It is “The American Way.” Our people are resilient, hopeful, independent and hard-working.

On the flip side, however, we are faced with issues, thought processes, ideologies and social and cultural differences which are threatening the very existence of who we are as a people and as a nation.  

Winston Churchill summed it up best when he said, “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”  

That’s a fact.  

The true dilemma with any governmental system – free or not – is people. People are what mess things up, always. If the hearts and the minds of the people are not where they should be, the most fool-proof system is still bound to falter or fail.  

Today, we live in a political system of absolutes. Just listen. “I’m right and you’re wrong.  And if you disagree with me, you’re a racist or a bigot or some other thing that has nothing to do with anything.”  

There’s little respect, little effort to try to understand the other side or a different perspective and little patience or compassion for one another.

Freedom is a remarkably wonderful thing. Throughout history, millions of people have fought for it and enormous numbers have died to protect it. The problems we face in our country are not because we are free. The problem is a vast majority of people in our country do not understand what it takes to continue to be free.  

We have become apathetic and complacent. We take our freedoms for granted without even knowing we are doing so. We spew forth what we hear or read or see, all without the knowledge or the understanding of whether any of it is true or good or right.  

Most Americans are more passionate and educated about discussions involving social media, the latest app or their favorite Hollywood star than they are about the major issues facing our country today.

In just a few days, early voting will open for this year’s primary election. It’s one of the most incredible privileges we have as American citizens. It is your chance to speak. But before you do, it’s imperative to understand who you’re voting for.  

Because it’s election season, each candidate will likely promise you the moon.  

Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you’re on, the moon’s not for sale, so make sure you have a true understanding of who the candidate really is when he or she isn’t running a campaign, vying for your vote.  And remember, the most signs don’t necessarily reflect who the best person is for the job. 

It’s true – people do mess things up – but I have faith in the American people that we can also fix what is broken and make it better than it has ever been. This election season, I encourage everyone to vote for competent, compassionate, leaders who will stand strong for the ideals and principles that have always been the foundation of our free republic, regardless of their political party affiliation.  

The only thing standing between us and a better world is ourselves.