Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, had a dim view of democracy. He preferred that the city-states of his day be governed by an educated aristocracy – philosopher kings. He didn’t trust the “common man” to know enough or care enough to make the critical decisions necessary to keep the wheels of society turning smoothly. Life was hard for most Greeks, and many were dirt poor. In Plato’s rarified mind his contemporaries were far too occupied with the life-sustaining activities of farming, fishing, trading and soldiering to ponder the complexities of statecraft.

Yet he had some interesting things to say about democracy and politics. He observed that “Democracy is a charming form of government [you can almost hear the air quotes around “charming”], full of variety and disorder.” Variety and disorder. Sounds rather like Will Rogers’ famous quote about his own political affiliation: “I am not a member of any organized party. I am a Democrat.”

But Plato also purportedly said: “One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” A modern-day wag put it more simply and bluntly: “If you don’t vote you’ll be governed by idiots.”

For better or worse, our Founding Fathers crafted a form of participatory governance more closely aligned with the classical Roman model: representative democracy. Rather than direct democracy, where the rabble gets to weigh in on every referendum, we elect friends, family and strangers to represent our interests. While there are a whole lot of flaws and holes in this system, Winston Churchill probably said it best: “Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

But representative democracy doesn’t work if even a small percentage of the voting-age population chooses not to vote. Especially when significantly consequential elections are decided by razor-thin margins.

George W. Bush became president of the United States when the Supreme Court halted vote counting in Florida when he was ahead in the state tally by a mere 537 votes out of 6 million cast, winning the state and securing the Electoral College win.

If the polls and pundits weighing in on the 2024 presidential election are correct, our next president will be decided by a few thousand votes in a handful of swing states.

We seem to agree that words matter. And lives matter. So let’s all agree that voting matters. Because it does. From your local school board to your state legislature, to Congress and the presidency, your voice, your wishes, your hopes and dreams – in the form of a vote – counts for something.

It obviously counts to J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, who opined that people with children should get more votes than childless people because, in his mind, they are more invested in our country’s future. And while that’s an asinine suggestion, he does make a good point: voting matters. A lot.

I know several smart, educated people who say they’re not going to vote in the coming election because they don’t like either side of the ticket, double-haters as they’re called, or spout that old saw that “my vote doesn’t count.” To quote President Biden: “What a bunch of malarkey.”

The preamble to the U.S. Constitution begins with these words: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union …”

You don’t get to perfection without participation. Democracy is a verb, not a noun. So, when the time comes, get out there and vote. Plato would be proud of you.