Hrishikesh Hirway

Because I know the status quo does change, albeit painfully slowly 

I can’t believe I have to write these words. I’d like to think of myself as a reasonable person, with reasonable expectations. Which is to say, I don’t expect much when it comes to politicians. I have lived through enough administrations that I voted for to know the disappointment of promises unfulfilled, the status quo largely unchanged. And yet I still vote, because I know the status quo does change, albeit painfully slowly. We have the chance to move it forward, in tiny increments, with each election.

All of this, however, is predicated on certain fundamentals, like how elections in this country work; how the rule of law works; what a fact is. Donald Trump is for one thing only, and that’s the advancement of himself. He has proven over and over again that nothing else matters to him. His ego and need for praise are those of an autocrat. That shallow craving for validation comes at a cost that includes the safety of millions and the structure of democracy. That’s not a theoretical statement—we’ve seen it in action.

I’m voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because I still believe in the basic social contract that binds people in a community. Despite what I experienced in the first Trump administration, and what I see in the polls, I want to believe that a demagogue cannot overpower our civil apparatus. The rules and laws and results that we can’t abide have a mechanism for change: we vote. Donald Trump believes in a world in which votes for him count and votes against him do not. But that’s not how it works, or at least, not how it’s supposed to. We’ve seen him try to subvert that already.

I know “maintaining civilization” isn’t a sexy argument for how to vote. But that’s because we take for granted that we even have the privilege of voting in the first place. This is my single issue.

Of course, I find Trump’s views on abortion, trans rights, immigration, taxes, and everything else abhorrent. But a country is made up of a set of ideas, and before we can even disagree on how to run things, we must have a country to run.

Hrishikesh Hirway is a musician and podcast creator.