On Tuesday, Nov. 3, election day, the United States of America voted to reaffirm its commitment to democracy. How fitting, in this its 250th year. How sad that such a recommitment was necessary.
Before the election, we were backsliding fast into authoritarianism. That cumbersome, seven-syllable word refers to rule by a small elite whose decisions are all made in their own interests — where a nation is ruled, not governed by the deliberations of their elected representatives and sustained by the rule of law for the common good.
Richard Conville
On Nov. 3, you may have voted blue because of the price of gas and groceries or because you did not like the opposing candidate or because you were tired of the cruelty, ridicule and chaos streaming from the White House.
Regardless, any specific election in a democracy reflects the general state of the democracy. I believe the net result of the midterm elections will be to restore the place of the United States of America as a democracy worthy of emulation. The Democrats who will take power come Jan. 3, 2027, believe in democracy. They believe in government of, by and for the people — not government of, by and for the president and his super-rich cronies.
“On Nov. 3, the nation faced a stark choice between the road to democracy and the road to dictatorship.”
The opening image in poet Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” comes to mind: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” On Nov. 3, the nation faced a stark choice between the road to democracy and the road to dictatorship. We chose the former, and it will make all the difference.
That difference is captured perfectly in the inscriptions found on two vastly different Civil War monuments. The first is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Flagstaff Hill in Boston (dedicated in 1877, 12 years after the war):
To the men of Boston who died for their country on land and sea in the war that kept the union whole, destroyed slavery, and maintained the Constitution, the grateful city has built this monument that their example may speak to coming generations.
The second is located on the grounds of the Forrest County Court House in Hattiesburg, Miss. (dedicated in 1910, 45 years after the war):
When their country called, they held back nothing. They cheerfully gave their property and their lives. Through the devotion and untiring efforts of the Hattiesburg Chapter No. 422 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, this monument is erected to the honor and memory of those who wore the gray.
On Nov. 3, the nation spoke loudly for the first and soundly rejected the second. The nation voted to keep the union whole (against those whose first leadership principle is to sow discord and create chaos), the nation honored the principles that ended slavery (against those who do not believe that “all men are created equal … and have certain inalienable rights … life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”), and the nation voted to maintain the Constitution (against those who have handed over to one person unfettered authority, domestic and foreign).
On Nov. 3, the nation voted to reject the Lost Cause narrative of the Confederacy, praising those who “held back nothing” and “gave their property and their lives” (to what end, one must ask, but to preserve the way of life of powerful Southern planters and faraway London bankers whose wealth depended upon the labor of human beings owned by other human beings).
The first inscription looks to the future, hoping the example of those soldiers and sailors “may speak to coming generations.” The latter inscription simply looks to the past and invites us to remember “those who wore the gray.” The nation’s vote Nov. 3 invites us all to look to the future.
The citizens of the United States of America had a stark choice on election day, and the nation chose right. Through its elected representatives, the nation now can go about dealing with the price of gas and groceries as well as restoring the democracy so casually stolen from us.
Richard Conville is professor emeritus of communication studies and service-learning at the University of Southern Mississippi and a long-time resident of Hattiesburg, where he is a member of University Baptist Church.