How Can I Not Be?

When I started this blog several months ago it was fairly easy to come up with topics for the first two months because I already had things I wanted to say and share, but for my third post for July I was kind of at a loss.

As a result, I spent the month sitting back and reflecting, taking everything in during a busy month of getting together with friends old and new, road trips across different parts of the country, doctors appointments, and in the course of all of it, along Interstate 29 in North Dakota passing endless fields of gorgeous corn, I came away with what I wanted to share.

I know we are all bombarded daily with news and social media telling us how divided we are, how in peril our democracy is, how the planet is doomed, and it’s all very true of course, but what was so refreshing this past month was being reminded of the wonderful and good qualities of my fellow Americans.

I am the first to say for years that we all have far more in common than we do that divides us, and this last month I got so much re-affirmation of that belief that I want to share a couple of the examples.

See The Country For Yourself

First, if you ever get the chance to travel our great country, I urge you to please do so. Every single time I do it, and I’ve now been to 48 states in 47 years of life, it reinforces that long held belief, instilled in me by my father, that if you take down the road signs and town names, you wouldn’t be able to tell which state you were in most of the time.

It’s another way of saying we are all so similar, with similar needs, desires, fears, troubles, joys, strengths, and weaknesses. In short, traveling helps you see things from different perspectives, develop and keep an open mind, and teaches you grace and humility. At least for me it does.

When we were driving over a week through Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa, through hundreds of miles of corn fields ready for harvest, you can’t help but feel a deep pride in your fellow Americans who do all the work to make those beautiful sights happen year in and year out over the centuries, to feed the country and the world.

That moment that struck me on Interstate 29 south of Fargo was the thought of “faith”. Not so much a religious faith, but just a simple, human faith that those farmers must have that there will be a tomorrow, a chance to grow and sell their crops in a free country, to raise their kids in a strong democracy, where people of different backgrounds and beliefs come together to solve problems and work together.

All too often, politicians try to tell us that if we don’t listen to them or do things the way they want and when they want, that we are somehow doomed, but on that Midwest drive in mid-July, my faith was restored that while yes there may be dark clouds over our country, and they may be there for a while, that our country is going to endure and succeed over the coming years and centuries, because I believe in the American people.

We might not fix all our problems as fast or as proactively as we could, and we may have some ugly fights ahead of us, but in the end it’s impossible to see us being anything other than successful.

Good People Are Everywhere

The second big example of the reaffirmation I got that we all have far more in common than we do that divides us was several things that happened during a two day drive from Idaho to Arizona helping a dear friend and her daughter move.

We were driving two of the biggest Uhauls you can get, both with car carriers attached, and both of us had issues at times with getting into jams with the trailers at gas stations and hotels. Each time it fell to me to try and fix it, and each time, while I would have eventually gotten things straightened out, Good Samaritans came out of nowhere to help direct me in which way to turn the wheel and speed up the process.

One person that helped was from South Asia, another was a middle aged white couple who said they’ve been towing trailers for years and are always happy to help folks. The husband I believe he said his name was Mark and had on a USMC hat. The third Good Samaritan was a much older man who was so patient and kind with me while trying to turn around in a tight hotel parking lot and loved it when I thanked him and asked him to give me “five” for being so helpful.

I don’t have any idea what any of their politics were, and they didn’t have any idea what my politics were. For all I know, and for all they know, they or I could have all been far right, far left, or somewhere inbetween. But if we did know, would it have mattered? I truly hope not. If our political outlooks didn’t agree, would they have still offered to help? I truly hope so. Would I have still accepted the help? Heck yeah!

Be The Reason People Believe That Good People Exist

During the same moving trip I was in a truck stop convenience store just to get some caffeine to help keep me going and my purchase was only like $2.78. Of all the times I’ve been asked if I wanted to round up for charity or donate $1 I’ve said no like 99% of the time, but for whatever reason, when the little grizzled old lady behind the counter asked me halfheartedly if I wanted to round up to help local nonprofits in that area, I guess I was caught in a weak moment and said “sure”. About the same time as I’m walking away another employee came over and I heard the cashier say to her with such awe and reverence and gratitude “he’s a rounder”. Not only did hearing that make me smile and feel good about myself, but I could tell that it made her day too that someone actually said yes when she asked, because she probably asks a thousand times a day.

Final Thoughts

There is no doubt that America as a country and Americans as people in their own day to day lives face many difficult challenges and problems today and in the future. It’s always been that way and always will be. It’s just how life is. We might not be able to control the challenges and problems we have to face, but we CAN choose how to face them.

The easiest and probably most understandable thing to do is to turn toward the darker side of human emotions and view and outlooks, but the better choice, and yes harder choice at times, is to intentionally turn towards the light and focus on the positives and the silver linings.

For even in our worst times, whether personally or as a nation, there are good things happening too, and we need to all (including me) do a much better job of remembering that and taking stock of those good things.

People used to always be amazed at how FDR could possibly be so optimistic and rosy about America’s future during the Great Depression and given his own physical disability, and his answer was always “how could I not be?”

You may be reading this and wondering how, given the state of our country and the world can Perry be so positive and optimistic about the future of our country and the planet, but I say to you, travel the country and your answer will be the same as mine….how can I not be?

The Name On The Front

“Who do you play for?”

Of the many movie lines that have stuck in my brain over my lifetime, that is one of the more prominent ones.

When I started my website a month ago I said I would only be doing one blog post a month because I want them to be meaningful, relevant, and inspiring.

I have been thinking for weeks about what I wanted the topic to be for my second blog post, knowing that it would coincide with the 4th of July. This weekend while starting to cut the grass those words hit me as I put on my old worn out Yankees cap and headed out of the garage….who do you play for?

The irony of thinking of lines from Team USA’s famous hockey coach Herb Brooks while going out to endure Florida’s scorching heat brought a wry smile to my face for the first pass or two of the front lawn, but it really is such a fitting tie in with my worldview of putting country over party.

There’s so much that’s been said over the years about the 4th of July and our nation’s declaration of independence, and rightly so, because just like that miracle on ice 43 years ago, what our fledgling nation did in 1776 was audacious, inspiring, and timeless.

Both put the greater good over individual goals. Both were Davids taking on Goliaths, and won.

During the 2004 movie Miracle, Coach Brooks played by Kurt Russell is constantly asking players who they play for, and they say “Boston College”, “Minnesota”, etc. It isn’t until he puts them through a grueling practice after a game they should have won that one of the players finally gets why he’s been asking them who they play for and says he plays for the United States of America. Here is the clip:

Years ago when my daughter was taking karate her instructor told us all that his two favorite holidays were the 4th of July and Thanksgiving, because they were holidays that all Americans could celebrate together, regardless of their backgrounds, religious beliefs, etc. That really stuck with me.

So this year, while you’re celebrating our nation’s birth, I ask you to think about how we all have far more in common than we do that divides us, about how throughout our history the big things we’ve accomplished we did them together by putting differences aside, about how a declaration is just a starting point….it’s up to all of us to do the hard work and put in the effort so that this thing we call the American Experiment will continue to flourish for generations to come, and in the rest of the days of the year ahead, long after the fireworks are done, keep asking yourself “who do you play for?”

Our Next 250 Years

I realize that most of you reading this probably don’t even know what you’re going to have for breakfast tomorrow morning let alone thinking about our nation’s 250th birthday which is in 3 years, but we all need to start, and not for the fun reasons like throwing a big party which I’m sure will happen, but for a really serious reason that I put to you as a question–

Do we want the next 250 years of our history to be as partisan-driven as the first 250 years were?

In his farewell address George Washington famously warned our young nation not to go down the road of partisan politics and we ignored that sage advice to our own detriment time and again throughout our history to the point where today everything is so seemingly polarized that a Democrat and a Republican cannot agree on what shade of blue the sky is.

Many who like how our 2 party system operates (ie who benefit from it) will say that it is the forge that made sure good ideas and solutions were supported by enough people before they were finally enacted.

Those who look at history more objectively can see that our two party system has resulted in making our country so highly reactive to problems that throughout our history it has delayed us from dealing with problems for decades longer than was necessary, resulting in wasted opportunities to enact cheaper, easier, and less bloody solutions.

If you don’t agree, ask yourself, why did it take almost 90 years after we declared all men were created equal to end slavery? Why did it take 140+ years to give women the right to vote? Why did it take over 100 years to start passing child labor laws? Why did it take another 100 years after the end of the Civil War to enact civil rights legislation? Why were all of these seemingly easy decisions so controversial and difficult to pass for so long?

The answer: our first past the post plurality elections incentivize and prioritize fighting for power and control over working together to find solutions to problems.

Some would argue that the two party system is what helped make America the most powerful and influential nation in all of recorded history. I would argue that everything we have achieved has been in spite of the millstone of partisanship, not because of it, and that we could have flown higher, faster, and farther without it holding us back.

Our nation has been at a crossroads for some time and will still be at the same crossroad in 3 years when its big birthday arrives. Will we continue down the same well-worn partisan path that we have been on for 250 years, or will we finally begin to consider a different path, the path that George Washington would have had us take….a path that constantly reminds us we all have far more in common than we do that divides us?

Like many Americans, for years I have wished and hoped and dreamed and worked for a viable alternative to the Democrats and Republicans. I came to the rather disappointing conclusion a few years ago that continuing to run 3rd party candidates and independent candidates, and those candidates losing, just continues to reinforce the narrative that they won’t ever win, that they are spoilers, and thereby makes the 2 party system stronger.

When I came to that realization I decided to turn my focus towards helping nonpartisan reform campaigns for things like open primaries, ranked choice voting, etc with the hope that once those reforms were in place it would be easier and more realistic for 3rd party and independent candidates to run and win elections.

What I learned from those efforts unfortunately is that most people, for however much they may complain about the two party system and the state of our national conversation, just don’t care enough to help make those things a reality.

In short, we must not wait to run independent and third party candidates until those nonpartisan reforms are passed, and in fact running them may help make passage of those reforms easier by raising awareness and increasing support for them.

For independent and third party candidates it is no longer about simply winning elections or giving people another option to vote for, it is about educating the public along the campaign trail, keeping the spark and hope of a less partisan and more solution oriented government alive in the hearts and minds of the people, to inspire others to dream about what is possible and to continue the fight themselves. Candidates who do all of that are still doing a huge service to our country even if they don’t win the election.

A few years ago I wrote an article and said that the 21st century would be an Independent Century by the time it was all over. In my heart I still believe that. More voters continue to vote with their feet every day by registering as Independent or No Party Affiliation. The only reason independents and third party candidates haven’t won more is the electoral system is set up to make it as hard as possible for them to win–for now.

The American people cannot say it any more clearly or loudly….they are well past ready to put country over party. It’s up to us to show them how we get there, by giving them candidates they can vote for and election reforms they understand and support.

2026 will be 250 years since our nation boldly declared its independence from the only system of government it had ever known. I was born shortly before our nation’s bicentennial in 1976 and will turn 50 a few days before the nation turns 250. I will have lived for exactly 20% of our nation’s history under the scourge of hyperpartisanship.

I cannot think of a more appropriate way to honor the sacrifices made, hardships endured, and efforts given by our founding generation than if we could get at least 250 independents and third party candidates who are willing to put country over party to run for office in 2026. I hope you will join me in supporting those candidates, and if necessary, consider being one of those candidates.