A malaise is defined as a general discomfort or illness that is, ironically, difficult to define — but not always. The word comes from the French root mal, meaning bad, and aise, meaning ease. Bad ease — you’d better believe it. Couldn’t be a better description for the tenor of the country now in the midst of this 2024 election cycle. As always, the French have been prophetic.

     I’ve sensed the malaise for a while now even here in Texas. In previous presidential elections Trump signs and flags and banners blanketed the general landscape and every residential street, but this time there is a dearth of signage altogether. On our own cul-de-sac, there are only five political yard signs, two for Tump and three for Harris. Driving around the City, I also notice that there are few bumper stickers on cars at all, not even for any local candidates. I take this as both a good sign and a bad one, thinking that perhaps people are still deciding on whom to support, or that they are afraid to advertise their affiliations, which is concerning and sad.

     I’ve also sensed a general cultural malaise in terms of enthusiasm for the seasons, the holidays, and any autumn community activities. Granted, it’s hard to celebrate fall when we remain in a drought, when daytime highs still hoover around 90º and when the only leaf color on any trees is a dead brown. In our neighborhood, few houses this year had any Halloween decorations at all, and fewer still were open and lighted to welcome trick-or-treaters. In years past, many residents set up tables in their front yards displaying their treats or even grilled hot dogs to give out along with chips and sodas inviting neighborly conversations. This year there was none of that.

     All there is this year, all there has been for too long, is an absolutely incessant barrage of political robo calls, text messages, and television ads. I was under the impression that once you had voted, all these solicitations stopped. Obviously, I was wrong. Actually, the closer we’ve gotten to election day, the more insistent and urgent the messages have become. I’ve been getting five or more text messages a day, some from down-ballot candidates whom I’ve never heard of in other states, but most from opposition candidates in the party in which I am not registered! Note to self: never donate to either national party committee again because they all obviously share their donor list with everyone else. 

     I just read that the total amount of money spent on the 2024 elections has reached 16 billion dollars — yes, BILLION; the presidential race alone accounts for two billion of that. Here in Texas, the Cruz vs. Allred senate race is not only the most expensive in Texas history, but the most expensive senate race in the country running now just shy of $200 million dollars. It’s obscene. Think of all the good that could be done with that amount of money, all the people who could be fed, all the suffering that could be alleviated, all the disasters that could be relieved. It makes me sick.

     We can thank the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United vs.the Federal Election Commission (Jan. 21, 2010) which undid campaign finance rules that had existed for more than 100 years. Enter the free-wheeling era of Super Pacs and Dark Money spent by the biggest corporations and organizations and the millionaires and billionaires who wield political power through them all. The argument in the ruling was that Citizens United (a conservative non-profit group) had the same “free-speech” right to support and donate to political campaigns as an individual person does. The result of granting “personhood” to corporations and groups, however, meant an almost immediate expansion in political spending, thereby increasing the already outsized influence of wealthy donors, big business and special interests. At a time of growing wealth inequality in the US, this decision served to reinforced the idea that democracy serves the interests of the wealthy few while the power of the ordinary citizen is almost negligible. And we are surprised that so many potential voters today are cynical, unaffiliated and/or totally disengaged?

     According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2020 Report on Presidential Election Voting, more people turned out to vote in 2020 (154.6 million) than in 2016 (137.5 million). It was the largest single increase between consecutive presidential elections since records of voting and registration began being recorded in 1964. The 154.6 million voters in 2020 constituted roughly 66% of those eligible to vote. The Bipartisan Policy Center reports that roughly 244 million Americans are eligible to vote in the 2024 election; in order to equal 2020’s turnout, 162 million ballots need to be cast by end of day tomorrow. Let’s hope it’s more; please god let’s hope it is an absolute  landslide! 

     Whatever way the election goes, my greatest hope is that it’s decisive. Otherwise, we are in for more of the same chaos, confusion, and court challenges that have dragged on for years already. I don’t know about you, but I am just so sick of all of it. The campaigns are too long and too expensive, not to mention too ugly and too violent. Even Donald Trump recently admitted that he’s been campaigning for nine years. Insiders say he is exhausted. I guess so —aren’t we all? 

     There is a famous quote from Joseph de Maistre, a French philosopher, writer and lawyer who lived in the period right after the French Revolution: “In a democracy, people get the leaders they deserve.” That quote has been reiterated many times and attributed to many different leaders — not always accurately — including Thomas Jefferson who amended it to “The government you elect is the government you deserve.” I don’t think any of these leaders/philosophers were being sarcastic about democracy. You see, in a democracy, especially one here in the United States where we are a nation of proud individualists, people tend to vote for those whose policies will benefit them personally, not necessarily for those who prioritize the interest of the common good or society as a whole.

     This is where we are now in this election, I think. The main issue, on several levels, is  “looking out for number one.” If my fellow Americans are unable to move beyond themselves, to look to the lessons of history and to take the long view of what is before us, then so be it. We are a nation of short-sighted, gullible, selfish people. No doubt our election malaise will continue long past November 5. I hope a generalized malaise is the only thing we suffer.