I don’t want to post political stuff on this forum but I believe this is super important and it will affect many people in a bad way. You have a gem in NOAA - it would be sad to lose it.
My suggestion is vote. I always vote. Also tell others to vote. If you or others don’t know who to vote for, it’s super easy to ask someone or many people you respect who to vote for. And if you want to go further, ask why.
I have purposely made the post neutral and do not want to bring any names into this.
It is a fact that there has been a drive to privatize NOAA for many year. This is not a new thing. I believe it’s a bad thing.
As I said, I want to keep this neutral. I will let people do their own research and make up their own mind.
Also note that some politicians lie. Again, do your own research into the trustworthiness of politicians and make up your own mind.
I’m not here to tell you who to vote for. Voting is yours to own. But please, do vote and be proud of voting. And encourage other to proudly vote. I wish more people proudly voted.
One of the reasons some people don’t vote is that they see elections as fake contests over fringe issues — e.g. trans bathrooms, trans athletes, etc — while the important ones — wars, money, surveillance, freedom of speech, etc — remain undiscussed bc they’re in agreement over them. They then see voting as validating the pretense of democracy, and by withholding their vote they’re, in essence, voting. Against the system instead of against particular candidates.
It’s unlikely our NZ and Cooks elections will affect you but sadly, your elections, which we have no vote in, does affect us. All I can do is encourage you to vote.