Take my hand. Let me help you look over the crest of this hill. I know, the weeds sting with thorns. I'm sorry. You can only see it from here.
Look there. That is America. We lived there, once.
Do you see? Do you see the cities and farmlands? Look, I ask you, at the people, who seem, somehow, to say "hello" to each other. What remarkable fearlessness!
Huddle down, now. We have looked too long. Never mind the stink of the weeds, and the thorns. You'll get used to it. I just want you to see this.
Okay, sit up. Let's look:
See the children on the sidewalk, so many miles away? See the . . . here, take my binoculars . . . see the woman on the sidewalk? She lives at home, and her husband, or her wife (I don't know) is out working at accounting. Her children play in the yard. The woman looks after the children while she chats with her neighbors across the street about the events of the day. I think they are planning a party.
They all trust each other. Do you believe that?
I'm not sure I do.
Look over there! A man is running for office. He strolls and smiles, and answers questions.
He criticizes. He makes points. The people he talks to dispute him. They engage in friendly discusion.
And all of them are basically okay. America . . . look! See! . . . is the richest country that ever was . . . and the citizens realize (in the most basic sense) that they have nothing to fear. They have merely to debate the good society. And how best to live with their national neighbors in the world.
Oh! Duck! Another Predator Drone just passed.
Come down with me. Our time is up. We have to return. Give me the binoculars.
I know. The Emergency Room stinks with the blood of the uninsured. The Walls along the borders are foul. Our leaders are militant. The spotlights blind your eyes, I'm sorry. They blind mine too.
Don't speak too loudly. They might hear.
But look. I want you to see something. It's here in a puddle. It's muddy, by the side of the unkempt road. It's in a ditch.
Pick it up. Careful! Watch for the seachlights. Don't let them see.
It's a ballot.
What will you do?