The Nation.



The Sounds of Silence

By Walter Mosley

This article appeared in the February 12, 2007 edition of The Nation.

January 29, 2007

This is the third installment in Walter Mosley's cycle of essays on Cultural Famine. The other installments appeared in the October 23 and December 18 issues. --The Editors

The word suffrage has nothing to do with the verb to suffer, or so my Oxford dictionary tells me. But the poet in me sees a connection. Voting is a serious enterprise. My choices of who speaks for me, decisions about laws that govern me and parties that represent my interests are the most important activities in my sociopolitical life. My ability to understand and make choices in the political arena is therefore paramount for me and my country. And if I fail to choose correctly or, even worse, neglect to participate in this enterprise, a whole nation, maybe an entire world, will suffer.

All Americans should vote. Every last one of us who is eligible should enter that ballot booth and punch out our choices.

Subscriber Login

4 ISSUES FREE

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

.

About Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley is the author of the bestselling Easy Rawlins series of mysteries, the novel R.L.'s Dream, and the story collection Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, for which he received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and, most recently, Life Out of Context, published by Nation Books. He was born in Los Angeles and has been at various times in his life a potter, a computer programmer and a poet. His books have been translated into twenty languages. He lives in New York. more...

Popular Topics
Most Searched

Issues »

Most Emailed

Issues »

Blogs

» Campaign 08

Witnessing Republican Disaster in Mississippi | I traveled to Mississippi to probe the impact of a million-dollar Republican attack ad campaign that linked an insurgent Democratic candidate to Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Max Blumenthal

» J Street

Friday Capitol Letter | This week's round-up from Washington.
Te-Ping Chen

» ActNow!

No European Star Wars | Czech hunger strikers challenge Bush plan to deploy missile defense system in their homeland.
Peter Rothberg

» Editor's Cut

Pentagon, Pimps & Propaganda (continued) | The incestuous relationship between the government, the networks and so-called “independent” military analysts reveals the essence of a new military-media-industrial complex.
Katrina vanden Heuvel

» The Beat

California Decision Makes Same-Sex Marriage a 2008 Issue | Democrats need to recognize that social issues will be a part of the debate. And they need to get this one right.
John Nichols

» The Notion

Internet Gurus Flock to Harvard Conference | Blogging from the most important Internet gathering in the country.
Ari Melber

» Passing Through

The Disappearing Upper Class | Our focus on the "working class" vote highlights how oddly we use language to describe class in American politics.
Zephyr Teachout

» And Another Thing

Preachers and Politics | Secularism looks better and better.
Katha Pollitt