Maine citizens have overcome a pandemic, endured a recession, and witnessed a strong economic recovery. We are now facing some of the first devastating impacts of climate change.

Throughout this period of rapid and substantial change, our federal, state and local governments have assumed a critical role in providing resources and leadership in meeting the challenges before us. The political, cultural, social, and environmental landscape has dramatically changed the election before us, offering fundamental and consequential choices about who leads us with stark implications for our future.

Over the last eight years there has been a colossal shift in ways of living and ideological prescriptions of how we should live and what we should accept as “normal” living regardless of the cost. As we consider what’s at stake in this election — the future of the planet, of individuals, and of democracy — we believe it is critical to explore with you, the reader, how your life looks today in a variety of arenas — health and medication costs, basic infrastructure issues, housing and food costs, employment, education, and the like — so that you may have a voice in this election in securing a future important to you.

A myriad of federal policies and corresponding state actions, as has thus far been demonstrated, have profound impacts on our lives. These policies and interventions have enhanced our well-being and enabled us to live more comfortably and more fully.

However, challenges are even now more complex as our news is often grounded in flawed conceptions of data and corresponding untruths. Emotions and divisiveness, rather than reason and logic, have been all too prevalent within the political landscape and overshadow the construction of a plan that will secure a stable and sustainable future for you.

Over the next 10 months, we will offer a series of columns that will focus on answering the question Ronald Reagan asked in 1980: “Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?” and exposing why the answer today is nearly always “yes”.

At the time, Reagan was referring to unemployment rates, inflation, and the energy crisis. These issues concern us today as well. But there is more to being “better off” than just pocketbook issues. Definitions of prosperity also include access to affordable housing, engagement in safe and vibrant communities, accessible quality educational opportunities and resources, safe and secure retirement for our seniors, a healthy environment, transportation networks that allow us to safely reach our destinations, and more.

The COVID-19 pandemic made it crystal clear that when such a monumental disruption descends upon us, these family and community building blocks begin eroding and our vision of well-being can shatter. During just the first year of the pandemic, 775 Mainers died, real GDP dropped by 1.4%, 55% of Maine’s small businesses closed, and 38,000 workers were laid off or left their jobs — most many out of necessity to take care of their children because day care facilities closed. The pandemic was a real hit to Maine as it was to the country. It did not look like we could feel “better off” ever again. But policymakers swung into action to meet those challenges head on.

This series will examine the issues of job growth, wages and inflation and how they impact the stability of Mainers. We’ll look at Social Security and other supports with a similar eye toward stability. We’ll consider whether the array of newly instituted family support programs made a difference in stabilizing financial security and reducing stress for both families and the communities within which they live.

We’ll look at agricultural policies and how they affect such basic issues as school lunches for low-income kids or meals for senior citizens or the price of food on your kitchen table. Medication, and especially insulin, costs are also on the minds of thousands of Mainers; is there any relief coming?

Where are gas prices now? Can you to get to work without breaking the bank? Town meetings are coming up and roads are always a hot topic. Does Maine secure enough federal government support for the roads and bridges so necessary in our rural state. Another lightning-rod issue is affordable housing and whether our workforce can afford to live anywhere near where they work.

There is a good deal at stake in this election and we need to ask informed questions about government policies that directly improve our lives, and get answers that are based on fact, not fiction.

We offer this series to readers in order to do just that: to make sure that we understand how our government, grounded in democratic principles of equality, human rights and justice, is working for us and making our lives better.

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