American Character and the 2022 Election Not Changing Much Socially or Politically

For the past several months leading up to the 2022 midterm election here in the U.S., a red wave has been predicted. Now, the day after Election Day, the actual results are looking rather underwhelming. Though we're told it may take days or weeks for final counts, the initial press is that Republicans may have to settle for retaking the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans were banking on high unfavourability ratings for President Biden, plus economic troubles at home and abroad. Wokeness regarding gender and racial issues has been self-evidently bad for America. The fight against Climate Change is hurting our budgets for fuel and electricity. Inflation is out of control, depressing the standard of living for many Americans. How could Republicans not sweep the field? The easy answer to that question has to do with the character of the American people. If that has not changed much, if at all, in the past two years, then it should not be all that surprising if the election outcomes are still coming in upside down. Character, after all, is upstream of every step in the process. Who runs for office, and what their positions are - that is a factor of character. Whether we actively support good candidates - that is a consequence of character. Who all shows up to vote, and how they vote - that is a result of character. How we respond when cheating and dishonesty overshadow the entire process - that too is a matter of character. Sadly, so long as our character is such that those for corruption and untruth are more passionate about winning power for themselves than those who love goodness and truth are about good government founded on sound principles, America will keep on getting what it got in 2020.  Yet this is not a call to fatalism. A pox on that. My family and friends live here, and I won't accept throwing in the towel. But the work continues, and must proceed apace, to think and act in relation to the big picture and the long-game. Even if sometimes only for an audience of one, that is enough, since we know what it profits a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul.