Letter: Where do you want to live?

Where do you want to live? It’s not a trick question, but perhaps a deeper one than at first glance.

Maybe reading somewhere else’s answer will help you answer it.

I want to live where my family and my neighbors feel safe. I want to live where people can afford to live and have access to the help they need when they need it. I want to live where anyone can safely voice their opinion, but where expert opinions carry the most weight. I want to live where everyone’s vote carries equal impact.

I want to live where my government is accountable to its citizens at the structural and individual level. I want to live where laws are applied equally to all people, regardless of wealth power, or privilege. I want to live where new or opposing ideas are met with curiosity.

That’s not where we live today.

Not when unelected actors can fire thousands of government employees at their whim. Not when the executive branch is undermining the power of the legislative and judicial branches. Not when one demagogue declares that “He who saves his country breaks no law.”

Not when a few of the wealthiest individuals in the world can buy their way into influence.

I don’t want to live in a fascist state. I want to live in a democratic one.

So, where do you want to live? What are you willing to sacrifice to live there? When you have an answer, it’s time to act.

Gretchen Sprinkle

Cortland