Something extraordinary is happening around the world.
And I don’t think we’re paying nearly enough attention to it.
Today, Israelis are going to the polls in extraordinary numbers.
By noon, 31.5 percent of eligible voters had already cast their ballots. That’s the highest midday turnout in an Israeli election since the 1970s.
Think about that.
Israel has been through three years of devastating war. The country is deeply divided. Families have lost loved ones. Its international relationships have been strained. And now voters are being asked to decide what kind of country they want to live in.
And they’re showing up.
Now, we don’t know who’s going to win. Benjamin Netanyahu has been dominating Israeli politics for decades, and his opponents are trying to take the country in a different direction.
But here’s what interests me.
It’s not who’s winning.
It’s the fact that people are voting.
And Israel isn’t the only place where we’re seeing heightened political engagement.
Look around the world.
We’ve seen enormous political demonstrations in Europe. We’ve seen young people organizing in Brazil. We’ve seen citizens challenging political establishments and demanding accountability.
These movements aren’t all the same. They don’t share the same politics, and they certainly don’t all want the same outcomes.
But they raise a common question.
Who gets to decide what happens to our country?
The politicians?
The billionaires?
The people who finance the politicians?
Or the citizens?
Because somewhere along the way, I think an awful lot of people forgot something.
We actually own these governments.
We hired these people.
They’re supposed to work for us!
And somehow, we’ve allowed the employees to take over the company.
Imagine hiring somebody to run your business, paying them a handsome salary, giving them fantastic benefits, and then discovering they won’t return your phone calls.
Congratulations!
You’ve just described the United States Congress.
And sometimes your local government, too!
Now, I’ve been spending a lot of time talking to strangers.
I’m working on interviewing a thousand people here in Greensboro, North Carolina.
And I’m discovering something fascinating.
People have a lot to say.
And I mean a LOT.
You ask somebody what they think about their government, and suddenly you’ve got yourself a 45-minute conversation.
You don’t need a microphone.
You don’t need a television studio.
You barely need to ask a second question!
But here’s what surprises me.
Underneath all the frustration, underneath all the anger, underneath all the political arguments, people are remarkably similar.
They want somewhere affordable to live.
They want safe neighborhoods.
They want a decent education.
They want healthcare.
And they want to make enough money to take care of their families.
That’s it.
Five things.
We’ve got politicians arguing over 900-page bills, and most Americans are asking for five pretty basic things.
Maybe we should simplify the job description.
And now, here we are, one week away from the American midterm elections.
November 3.
And the stakes are enormous.
Control of Congress is on the line.
The direction of the country is on the line.
And Americans are going to have an opportunity to express themselves in the most powerful way a democracy provides.
With a ballot.
Now, I’ve been particularly interested in what’s happening with younger voters.
Gen Z.
I’ve been talking about these young people for months.
And you know what I find fascinating?
They’re asking questions that my generation should have been asking a long time ago.
Why does housing cost so much?
Why does healthcare cost so much?
Why does college cost so much?
Why are we working two jobs and still struggling to survive?
And why does everybody keep telling us that if we’d just stop buying $7 coffee, we could afford a $500,000 house?
Really?
That’s the economic plan?
Skip the cappuccino and buy a condominium?
Give me a break!
But I think there’s something deeper happening here.
Young people are discovering that politics isn’t some abstract argument happening in Washington.
Politics determines whether they can afford an apartment.
Whether they can get medical care.
Whether their education leaves them with a mountain of debt.
Whether they can build a future.
And when people begin connecting politics to their everyday lives, something changes.
They begin paying attention.
They begin asking questions.
And sometimes, they begin organizing.
That’s what makes this moment so interesting.
But here’s where I want to be careful.
High voter turnout doesn’t automatically mean everybody agrees.
It doesn’t mean the same political party is going to win everywhere.
And it certainly doesn’t mean every election will produce the changes people hope for.
Democracy doesn’t work that way.
Democracy is messy.
It’s frustrating.
It’s slow.
And sometimes the results make you want to throw your television out the window.
But the alternative?
Letting somebody else make every decision for you?
That’s not much of an alternative.
And there’s something else I want people to understand.
Voting isn’t the finish line.
It’s the starting line.
Because what happens after November 3?
What happens after the celebrations?
After the speeches?
After the television networks finally stop showing us maps covered in red and blue?
We still have to govern.
We still have to solve problems.
We still have to hold elected officials accountable.
And we still have to talk to one another.
Especially the people we disagree with.
That’s something I’ve learned from talking to strangers.
You don’t have to agree with somebody to understand them.
And you don’t have to change somebody’s mind to have a meaningful conversation.
Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is simply listen.
I think we’ve forgotten how to do that.
We’ve gotten so good at shouting that we’ve forgotten how to have a conversation.
And democracy requires conversation.
It requires compromise.
It requires participation.
It requires citizens.
Not spectators.
So today, as millions of Israelis go to the polls, I’m watching with enormous interest.
Not because I know how their election will end.
I don’t.
But because it reminds me that elections still matter.
And in seven days, Americans will have their own opportunity to participate.
Whatever your politics, whatever your party, whatever your opinions, I hope you take that responsibility seriously.
Because here’s something I’ve come to believe after talking to hundreds of people.
Most people aren’t asking for miracles.
They’re asking for a government that listens.
A government that responds.
A government that remembers who it’s supposed to serve.
And that starts with us.
We can complain.
We can argue.
We can post angry messages on Facebook.
God knows we’ve gotten pretty damn good at that.
But eventually, we have to do something.
We have to participate.
We have to hold people accountable.
We have to show up.
Because democracy isn’t something we inherit once and get to keep forever.
It’s something every generation has to maintain.
And sometimes repair.
So whether you’re watching an election in Israel, a demonstration in Europe, or the midterms right here in America, remember this:
The future isn’t decided by the people who complain the loudest.
It’s decided by the people who participate.
And that brings me back to something I’ve been saying for months.
It’s time to stop being spectators.
It’s time to become citizens.
But first, we show up.
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