“Treat with utmost respect your power of forming opinions, for this power alone guards you against making assumptions that are contrary to nature, and judgments that overthrow the rule of reason.”
Those words of wisdom were penned nearly 2,000 years ago by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in his philosophical treatise,“Meditations.” Often referred to as the “Philosopher King,” Aurelius ruled Rome from 161 A.D. until his death in 180 A.D. — but is likely more familiar to modern readers as the father of the immoral Commodus in the 2000 film,“Gladiator.”
Despite the passage of time, the emperor’s insights still ring true today.
Consumers of modern media are constantly bombarded with a barrage of competing opinions exhorting them to vote for this, oppose that or be outraged by the other. And with Election Day 2024 less than a week away — a date that for many can’t come soon enough — that onslaught is reaching a fever pitch.
Over the last several weeks, we have endeavored to provide comprehensive coverage of the local, state and federal elections that are most relevant to voters in our coverage area, including profiles of the various candidates and insights into the key issues impacting the East End, such as affordable housing, water quality, public education and the environment.
In last week’s papers, we used these pages to share our endorsements for the candidates vying to serve the region in the State Senate, State Assembly and U.S. House of Representatives. Those endorsements reflect the opinions of the Suffolk Times editorial board, and were based on an examination of the policies and positions of the individual candidates. We were also fortunate to meet with the majority of the contenders, all but one of whom accepted our invitation for an in-person interview.
But it is important to note that those endorsements do not necessarily reflect the personal opinions of the various members of our editorial staff and instead were principally informed by our consensus view on how the policies of each candidate would best serve the voters in the districts we cover.
It’s also worth noting that we did not contemplate endorsing candidates for U.S. Senate or the Presidency. This decision was based on our long-standing commitment to focusing our coverage on issues of the most pressing local import. That’s not to say that the person serving as a senator or president isn’t of vital importance to all Americans — it simply reflects the reality that we do not typically cover “national” news.
It also reflects the unfortunate reality that, given the current state of our national political discourse, it’s all but impossible to imagine that our views on these races would be likely to sway anyone’s opinion, particularly in the 11th hour of a seemingly never-ending political campaign. As such, we will give the first and last word to the Philosopher King and share one of his best known sayings, brilliant in its simplicity, and as vital today as it was in the 2nd Century A.D.: “It’s up to you.”
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