“The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Voltaire
Dear Democrat,
Have you noticed that our national sociopolitical system is flawed and seems to be taking us down a dangerous path? Every week, I work alongside people who are concerned about that path. They are working diligently and, thankfully, they are not waiting for the perfect solution; they are simply doing work that they know is good. And that good work is forging new inclusive paths.
In this day of polished images and striving for higher ratings and social media “likes”, a natural tendency is to sit back and wait for the sure thing that will make us look successful by affiliation. But the truth is that a successful Democratic Party is not polished; it’s messy and if we wait for perfection before elevating our level of participation, we sacrifice meaningful outcomes that coincide with good work and we sacrifice a more representative voice that has within it the varied, imperfect, beautiful tones that come from working class people participating because yes, we are good enough.
So next time you are faced with a choice between waiting for a perfect opportunity to work for the Democratic Party or seizing an opportunity to do good work that needs to be done, do not let perfect be the enemy of the good. Your beautiful good work is needed because we are building the bridge to an inclusive Party while crossing it.
Yours in democracy,
Flora