E.S. Raye

I finished Nathan Ballingrud’s The Strange this weekend and was all set to write a review of it today.

But today is also Election Day in the US, and for the life of me, I cannot drag my brain away from it. As a dual citizen of the US and Canada, I sent in my absentee ballot weeks ago, and have already gotten confirmation that it was received and will be counted today.

But the anxiety is real, my friends.

I try to keep overt politics out of my day-to-day communications as a writer, both in my blogs here and on my various social medias. I’m a news and information addict, so I get enough of that elsewhere as it is. And if I’m being honest, as a new author with my debut novel coming out later next year, I’ve been afraid of alienating possible readers. But I’ve come to realize, if you’re not going to read my work because you don’t like my politics, my work probably isn’t for you, anyway.

Science fiction in particular as long been a bastion of liberal ideas, and even if media literacy has dropped to catastrophic levels in the United States, my work is pretty obviously pushing progressive themes and ideas: anti-fascist superheroes, LGBTQ+ gunslingers, strong female characters, etc.

With that said, it’s likely too late now for me and my tiny audience to sway any hearts and minds–but I have thoughts that need expressing.

AS I see it, today’s choice is one between hope and fear. And as a lifelong fan of both Star Wars and Star Trek, I’m having trouble wrapping my brain around those “undecided” voters in the middle who are still struggling to decide if they want to vote for Princess Leia or Emperor Palpatine; for the Federation or some bizarre Christian Nationalist Borg Collective.

Hyperbolic? Maybe, but only a little.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand the criticisms of Harris, and even agree with some (the current administration’s policy regarding Gaza is undoubtedly my biggest concern). But I also believe one candidate can be moved by her constituency, while the other can only be moved by power, wealth, and his own cancerous ego.

The United States feels more divided now than ever in my lifetime, and I am often shocked at the way others in my demographic cohort think and feel. I question how others raised in the same country as me, sometimes in the same state and education system, can express such wildly unamerican ideas.

I was taught the US was a country of freedom, yet some want to take away and curtail the freedoms of others, including women, minorities, and the LGBTQ+ community.

I grew up learning of the great diversity of thought and background a country of immigrants can benefit from. Now I see some saying “Keep America for Americans,” whatever that means in a country where everyone, unless you are a member of an indigenous community or are descended from a people forced to come in chains, have immigrants in their family history.

In my adult years, I’ve become deeply interested in World War II, and how the Allies fought against a regime of greed and genocide, headed by the closest thing mankind has ever come to pure evil. How they sacrificed their lives on the alter of peace, democracy, and equality. But today, those words seep from people’s mouths like the most offensive of slurs, while some proudly wave the flag of the world’s worst enemy in support of a man and a movement on track to bring our national ideology more in line with that failed Reich.

It’s a potentially dangerous precipice we find ourselves on. Will Trump do all the things the Democrats say he will? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try, nor does it mean it’s okay if he only accomplishes some of them.

However, I am (as I saw someone put it on Threads this morning) “nauseously optimistic,” and am trying with all my might to choose hope today.

I guess all I can really say that should resonate with you, no matter your preferred party or candidate, is that today is the day your voice is heard. So, if you haven’t already, go use it.

Vote.