The most important election in recent history is here and now in 2024

Voting –What’s in it for me?

As the election of new representatives for every part of the country draws closer to its final day the question in my mind is why do I care? Better yet, why should I care? An old joke was I only listen to my favorite radio station WIFM. The acronym stands for what’s in it for me. Well, what is in it for me? What is the most often used response for this question?

It your duty!

With the 2024 election just weeks away it is important to know the answer. The 2020 election had 155 million votes forever changing the course of our nation. The 2024 election, however, may have the greatest impact of any election in our 248 year history. It will once again decide Americans way of life.  It may be the future of health care, immigration reform, economic policy, women’s’ health, social programs, foreign aid or global warming. Social programs are a big factor to be considered, no doubt.

For the sake of argument there will be two sides to these topics. One considered the conservative view and the other the liberal view. The idea that there is a third view is not seen very well if indeed there is another view, but the moderates and independents are to be respected among either side.

In the House of Representatives, there are 220 Republicans (plus 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico), 212 Democrats (plus 3 Delegates), and 3 vacant seats. The Senate has 49 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 4 Independents, who all caucus with the Democrats. Additionally,

• The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 118th Congress was 57.9 years; of Senators, 64.0 years.

• The overwhelming majority, 96%, of Members of Congress have a college education.

• The dominant professions of Members are public service/politics, business, and law.

• Most Members identify as Christians, and the collective majority of these affiliate with a Protestant denomination. Roman Catholics account for the largest single religious denomination, and numerous other affiliations are represented, including Jewish, Latter-day Saints, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Greek and Russian Orthodox, Pentecostal Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and Adventist.

• The average length of service for Representatives at the beginning of the 118th Congress was 8.5 years (4.3 House terms); for Senators, 11.2 years (1.9 Senate terms).

• One hundred fifty-four women serve in the 118th Congress: 129 in the House, including 3 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, and 25 in the Senate.

• There are 59 African American Members of the House and 4 in the Senate. This House number includes 2 Delegates.

• There are 62 Hispanic or Latino Members serving: 56 in the House, including 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, and 6 in the Senate.

• There are 22 Members (17 Representatives, 3 Delegates, and 2 Senators) who are Asian Americans or Pacific Islander Americans.

• Five Native Americans (American Indians or Alaska Natives) serve in the 118th Congress (4 in the House, 1 in the Senate)

Then there are the local offices which hit real close to home and which great care should be taken to choose. Anyone who is registered and allowed to vote should know whom to vote for and where to cast your vote. It is your duty, but let’s be honest; it’s about what is in it for you. Wichita, Kansas became one of the first municipalities in the United States to adopt a commission-manager form of government. Currently there are six commissioners that serve four year terms and one Mayor (at-large).

 It is understood that taxes, fees, fines etc. finance the City of Wichita and all the departments necessary to serve the population. It is the leadership that approves the expenses and oversees the revenue. Wichita, Kansas is in Sedgwick County which has its own revenue stream and expenses. So to the question, what’s in it for me, the biggest concern is how much to support  all these city and county services going to cost  me/you?  There is where voting becomes vital to us. I want to elect leaders who represent my interest, leaders that will make laws for my better welfare. So to that point there is a huge divide.Where can we agree to spend the money that will help me and you? The bare minimum of services is not enough, but what else do we need that the largest percentage of the population will agree. I look at a theory drafted by a fellow named Abraham Maslow, who breaks down the general populations needs anywhere in the world.  In a 1943 paper he wrote titled “A Theory of Human Motivation” and published in the “Journal of Psychological Review” {50(4),370-96} Abraham Maslow extended an idea to include his observation of humans’ innate curiosity.  It was later put into a pyramid or triangle with the base entitled physiological needs and seven other layers to suggest a person’s goals or desires. Best described as a hierarchy of needs and broken into a dichotomy of, individualized and the prioritization, of needs. The very basic of all needs in Maslow’s theory was named physiological and followed by safety at level two. The thought being that one could not reach the next level without having every need fulfilled in the first. So, to reach level three an individual would have to have physiological security and feel totally safe. The third level being “belonging and love”. For now I will stay with the thought of level one to three.

What is being physiologically secure? For a body to survive one needs air, food, water, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. Physiological needs. Second and just as important is Safety. One might start with protection from the elements, security, order, law, stability and the freedom from fear. Other areas might include employment, healthcare. The third level of the triangle is Love and belonging. Included are the need for friendship, intimacy, family and a sense of connection.

Without any help from anyone the story of the caveman might come to mind, but I dare say no one would want to go back to living the way, as it is theorized, the way those folks lived. Bringing us further into our reality I would not like to live like those who left the eastern part of the country to go west. The rewards were great for some, but disastrous for most. (I recently visited the Sierra Nevada Mountains and read the story of the Donner Party. To survive they resorted to cannibalism, but ultimately all died. They could not maintain the basic level of physiological needs). The elements were too hard to overcome.

Let’s look at life of your grandparents or great grandparents who most likely relied on an Agrarian lifestyle of living. That is a life of living off the land. Laws helped them acquire a piece of property and have full control of buying and selling anything they wanted. They sustained their physiological needs by hard work and a little help from some Politician who wrote a law that assured their self-sufficiency with laws to keep their cattle from being stolen or from claim jumpers steeling their land. These Politicians were their friends, neighbors, family etc. They had a single purpose in mind and that was freedom and the ability to survive any legal way.  As folks did things that were questionable these elected officials created laws against what was not right for the community. In time establishing a law enforcement department to be sure the laws were followed and hardworking, honest people safe. This is not a history lesson, but instead a reminder that our elected officials are no longer friends or family of the majority and may not have our best interest at heart, but instead motivated by their own goals to reach the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy using you as their stepping stone.  The morals and mores have changed dramatically and the standards are all over the board. In order to bring this all to some sort of order a base line has to be reestablished to meet today’s way of thinking.

1. Every basic physiological need must be covered (Food, water, clean, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. Currently we are on the verge of a drought and water rationing has started. Our elected officials decided that for the better welfare of the community and to insure everyone’s physiological needs are met, rationing was necessary. And penalties put in place to punish those who do not follow the law. This is a good group of politicians.
2. For safety a budget, is in place that assures the police and sheriff’s departments have adequate budgets to protect the public. There are approximately 6,000 law enforcement officers in Sedgwick County.  There is an argument that this number is not enough to maintain order. This is a good group of politicians trying to pass laws to help with our safety.

The list of physiological and safety needs required to keep us alive is long and very expensive to maintain. The cost of living continues to rise and cost of doing business is where it starts. This is where the road gets a little slippery and the hard decisions come into play. Where can we cut back to compensate for the increasing cost of services? What are we willing to lose or risk for keeping more of our hard-earned money for ourselves and it not go to supply the needs of the county? It is social programs, right? There in begins the rub and the disagreements. Which politician is going to follow your lead to create a budget that balances everyone’s basic needs fairly? How do you voice your ideas and your suggestions to those in power? You vote for the folks that are running for office that feel the same way you feel and are there to take your lead to the rest of your neighbors. You vote so that what you believe is fair and just and necessary is considered. Then it’s the majority rules, right? Who has the greatest opportunity to get to the voting booth, probably those that don’t care about you or your priorities. People that have much more than they need and are willing to sacrifice services that impact the lower classes instead of what affects them.  The only voice the lower classes may have, is the right to vote. Get to know who your representatives are and what they stand for and then VOTE! The cost of your survival may lay in your vote.

(We are fighting to help those in need and those who are hurting through no fault of their own).

Serving Kansas City and Wichita, Kansas We are:

www,hplacharities.org/donate