It's Time!

Time.

It’s free. It’s finite. It’s fleeting.

It’s more valuable than money and more powerful than power itself.

Time.

The average adult in the United States spends roughly 3 hours per day watching television. That equates to about 1,100 hours per year (this is in addition any time spent on social media).

If we focus only on the more than 150 million voters who participated in the 2020 and 2024 elections in the United States, that would equate to 165 billion cumulative hours spent watching television in one year.

What if everyone gave just one of those 3 TV hours per day in service of our democracy? What if we could find a way to contribute $1 of value for each of those hours invested? That would result in 55 billion hours of opportunity and at least $55 billion of value to our communities, economy, and democracy. Imagine what’s possible!

Despite the availability of this untapped potential, most of us sit paralyzed and anxious, wondering, “But what can I do?” We have become apathetic spectators, hooked to entertainment on our screens. It is a serious addiction that comes at the expense of being engaged citizens.

And while our democracy suffers, authoritarians salivate in feeding that addiction - through drugs like reality TV, video games, social media, political entertainment, and clever propaganda branded as “truth.” These tactics are designed to convert us into distracted spectators vs. informed citizens, while power rapidly consolidates into the Executive branch, threatening the separation of powers, rule of law, and our entire system of self-governance.

While it is true that leaders from both the right and left are guilty of undermining our democracy, the current president, administration, and leaders in Congress are doubling down and accelerating this strategy. They are so intoxicated by power and blinded by ego that they are overtly embracing authoritarianism, disregarding our founding principles, and putting our entire endeavor to “form a more perfect Union” on the precipice of destruction.

It’s clear that many of us - from all sides of the political spectrum - are deeply concerned about the threats to our system of governance. We may have differing views on political issues and who we vote for, but the majority of us are not ok with sacrificing the very principles that underpin our nation’s purpose. Without those, the rest doesn’t matter.

We believe all people are created equal under the law.

We believe in everyone’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We believe in self-governance, rule of law, and the separation of powers to prevent authoritarian rule.

We believe in the many freedoms guaranteed to all, including the rights to speak, worship, and peacefully assemble as we please and to be afforded due process.

Alexis de Tocqueville posited in “Democracy in America” that what makes the United States of America exceptional is the propensity of normal citizens to join together across our differences to solve problems and take responsibility for the needs of our communities, states, and nation. That culture emanates from the very first words that established the Constitution and our system of self-governance, rule of law, and separation of powers: “We the People.”

I believe that our addiction to entertainment is destroying our collective responsibility to steward this 250-year-old grand experiment in sustaining democracy, and we have the power through individual action to change the current trajectory.

What if we choose to use some of those 165 billion TV hours to stop being spectators and start being engaged citizens?

What will be your first step? What will you join? Who will you invite? What space will you create? How will you take responsibility? Where will you invest that 1 hour each day for the sake of our country?

It’s time.

Own it!