Neighbor Tuesday: Voting like a Good Samaritan
Did you know that 64 countries, plus the EU, will hold national elections this year? That represents 49% of the world’s population. To name a few key elections, Taiwan, Pakistan, the US, India, South Africa, Mozambique, Ukraine (maybe), South Sudan, Belarus, Togo, Finland, El Salvador, Croatia…64 countries representing nearly half the globe are astounding. This, indeed, is an election year for the world. (If you want to see the full list of countries, voting dates, and a country’s “freedom and fairness score”, go here.)
If you’ve read my book, do you remember the part where I talk about voting? Ok, I may have it in there a few times. But, I really talk about it in the chapter about why climate change, health, equity, and neighboring matter in voting. More importantly, it matters who we vote for and how we vote. In other words, voting on one issue (for example: only on abortion or only on immigration or only on fill-in-the-blank-issue) is too simplistic - especially when we are voting like Good Samaritans. Let me show you why.
People are made up of many issues at once - individual choices, systems surrounding them, issues out of their control. If you look at the globe’s poorest communities, the issues affecting them are not simply one thing. That’s here in the US too. We all know that at a gut-level, don’t we? We are each more than one simple issue and made up on consequences not even of our own making from systems out of our control. So, I propose viewing voting this year through the lens of the Good Samaritan.
Through the lens of neighboring both our local neighbors and global ones.
In Chapter 16 of my book, I talk about how leadership matters when it comes to global food insecurity and climate change (this is also the chapter I talk about being called a socialist in church - That story still makes me chuckle.). Here’s an excerpt from that chapter (and, I apologize for the poor quality of this picture):
In 2015, 192 countries plus the EU signed an international treaty, the Paris Climate Agreement, with a goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, which would peak global greenhouse gas emissions, thus slowing down climate change.
The trickle-down effects of this treaty would directly protect the poorest communities who live in countries most affected by climate change. I tell the story of my work in Somaliland and how climate change is forcing tens of thousands of people out of their homes to look for better pastures. They are now in their 7th drought season. It is devastating. So, doing something about it through the international treaty and curbing carbon emissions directly affects those in Somaliland or other areas greatly affected by climate change. (Here’s a great article with more information.)
In 2017, the US pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement. The book details that and my thoughts. But, I want to focus on the people again. And, the responsibility of voting, especially for those of us in high-income countries. Here’s what I wrote about it - pay attention to the line “But the way of capitalism is not friendly to the poor in the world.”:
If you live in a high-income country, 86% of ALL carbon emissions come from us. But affects those living on the margins of poverty, disease, and income more. (Again, the book goes into that more if you’re interested.) Do you see the inequality there? The unneighborlyness (is that a word?)?
So, why does this matter to voting?
Because leadership matters - locally and globally.
And, so do we. Because we have an opportunity, a responsibility, to vote like a neighbor.
I gave an example of climate change being an issue of neighboring. So are many other issues - poverty, taxation (particularly who bears the brunt of taxes), food insecurity, affordable housing, a living wage, wide income inequalities. I don’t have to tell you that these issues intersect one another, and compound multiplicatively on eachother. But not equally. Usually the multiplicative effects are felt more on the margins than those of us tucked away in enoughness.
I think these issues are sacred words because they show us where the earth is not equal - so that we can be better neighbors to right that wrong. To bend the arc towards justice like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. notably said.
So, I want to spend some time during some of these Neighbor Tuesdays to talk about voting like a Good Samaritan in the coming months. Like a neighbor. I’ll bring issues that are near and dear to my heart and work as examples and hopefully they can help broaden our knowledge on why our vote matters. There’s lots of issues, yes, and I will not provide a comprehensive viewpoint on all of them. I will speak on the ones that I’m qualified to tackle as an epidemiologist, and bring in the global impact of voting in our discussion too.
There are over 80 countries represented in this FNE community! You all are from all over the globe! That will never, ever get old to me. So, this year of voting likely affects you or those that you love.
For those that live in the US like me - The US is a wonderful country. And, also. It holds a ton of power and privilege in the world - for better or for worse. We’ll talk about that in the coming months - especially how policy decisions made by a few countries, like the US, affect millions of others in countries thousands of miles away.
I want the world to be better through my ballot, and I have a hunch you do too.
Onward we go to vote like neighbors in 2024!
-Emily
PS: Here’s the link to the book if you’re interested. Also, did you know I read the audiobook?! I was so worried that I would be boring in the audio-reading. I have been told that I, in fact, am not boring at all. Ha! I think I have lots of enthusiasm in the book - and some tears too.
PSS: Thank you for the kindest comments on the last Easter post. You all are the best community on these interwebs that can be so weird to navigate sometimes. =) Thank you!
Thank you for your book (loved hearing it in your voice)! Also, thank you for connecting us to the global community. We can have such a positive impact if we only look outside ourselves and see more of the world as our neighbors. As a long ago lapsed Catholic, you see the world the way I wish more Christians of all stripes would. Thank you again.