THE RIGHT REASON

I once met a group of constituents who were undecided about their votes in an upcoming election. I invited them to an open meeting I was holding in the local community centre and told them they could ask me any questions they wanted and I would answer them as honestly as I could.

“Why should I vote at all?“ asked the first, bullish in nature. I said that voting was the only real way to make your voice heard in politics. If you don’t cast your vote for those who match you closest in policy, then how will those with that policy ever get elected?

“But how does that affect me?“ came next. Because politics is in everything. The price of your shopping to the healthcare you receive. The laws that pass in to Parliament to newspaper front pages. There isn’t an aspect of your life that isn’t affected in some way.

“What do I get out of it?“ another asked. You’re asking the wrong questions, I told them. You’re thinking too small. What do you get out of it? What about your family? Community? Town? Country?

I told them to look inside themself and find something that they really wanted to happen if they voted for me.

“I want drug laws relaxed” said one young man. I asked why. He said because that meant he could carry his weed around town without the threat of being arrested. Not useful. I tried to turn it around. I asked who else agreed. A middle aged lady put her hand up. Surprised, I asked her to explain herself. She said that decriminalising the drug industry would help the economy by bringing the industry into regulation. She said that prison spaces would open up for those who truly deserved them. She said that entire criminal gangs would have no way to fund their activity once drug money was removed.

Great, I said. That’s more what I’m looking for. But you’re still not there.

What the man had explained was similar to Junkrat and Marvolo. They see the exact instant in front of them and what they get out of it. They have no care for the long term vision, nor do do they care for anyone else who cares for it. They see this match as it is. A way to win the tag titles this week.

What the lady explained was closer to Aesop and Banzan. They care little for immediate gain, but instead see the end of the fable. They don’t want instant gratification, just the long term rewards.

But me and X? Imperium as a whole? We see it all. We see the match as it is. We see the end goal. But we also see how important the road to that end goal is too. And it all matters.

It’s not enough to make the right choice any more. Not with so much at stake. No. Now it’s imperative to make the right choice for the right reasons.

That’s why Imperium is the only way. Vote Whitlock.