The article discusses the limited ways individuals can express political power, emphasizing the disparity between the influence of wealthy elites and the general population. It suggests that while voting happens infrequently, voices can unite to resist authoritarianism, as seen in the 'No Kings' protests. The piece calls out the responsibility of those with political power to use it against democratic threats. It acknowledges differing opinions on the severity of these threats but reiterates the necessity of collective action and grassroots mobilization to maintain democracy.
Votes come, at best, once a year, the most consequential votes for national office every two and four years. We all only have one voice, though some of us also have the additional power of a megaphone to amplify that voice.
Some have genuine political power. Elected officials have political power. People with voices big enough to resonate with larger groups, or with enough money to purchase access to the levers of government, have political power.
Voices are by no means meaningless. The recent 'No Kings' protests, which brought out millions of people distributed all across the country to object to this takeover, demonstrated the capacity for collective voices to aggregate into something like political power.
I understand that there are differing minds around the likelihood of success of this attempted takeover, as well as the manner in which it is best resisted, but I'm reasonably certain that if you were to feed even a wee dram of truth serum to those attempting this takeover, they would admit that this is the case.
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