I woke up this morning with the words to an old song on my mind, “Let the rest of the world go by.” That song was written many years before I was born, but it could be a theme song for many Americans in 2024.

We are aware of threats to our existence, we just don’t want to think about them. We assume that problems with water, fire, pollutants will be taken care of by someone. Someone else. We avoid news or even refuse to think about famine, global conflict or disease.

The loss of our democratic way of living is too uncomfortable to spend any time on. It is tempting to avoid national and world news and to focus on things that are less catastrophic. We could accuse those who are warning us of losing our democracy of causing the problems. We could even join the loud voices who promote destroying our democratic and judicial systems and to start over from the beginning.

Our country survived the worst threats of the past century because our leaders didn’t hide from the threats of the rest of the world. We overcame threats from forces in other countries in the last century. In this century we survived a global pandemic and made strides in health care, technology, and living styles.

On the other hand, we are losing the sense of truth, honesty and integrity. Technology spreads false information with algorithms intended to shape our thoughts. We are becoming suspicious and unkind regarding others, withdrawing into tribes of people who think alike or use the same biased information sources.

Why are so many Americans saying, “Let the rest of the world go by”? Have we gotten so lazy that we can’t take time to find out what is happening? Are we so comfortable in our personal circumstances that we can’t take time to be involved in our democracy? Or are we afraid that we will be censored by our neighbors when we speak out about our responsibilities to our country? What is going to happen as we “Let the rest of the world go by”?

It is the only world we have. Live in it, find the truth and don’t be afraid. Let’s talk about it.

Evelyn Swart

Joseph