As we enter the final days before the election, many of us are bombarded with political advice, campaigns, and things that generally seem to bother us. At the heart of politics are our ethics and what we value: how we wish to be governed and by whom. And every once in a while, we vote – a chance to direct the future in some small way. Gone are the days when we raised the best among us to represent us. Once again, we are forced to vote for a candidate who can implement a policy we want to see. Policy is a combination of necessity and value introduced into a plan that is then made feasible. If we can’t find a personality to support, we find a candidate who hopefully aligns with our values.

To think about such things and to be able to have even the slightest influence on their possibility is of course a luxury. For many, only immediate necessities are worth considering. For life to proceed, a constant combination of water, food and shelter is necessary – although others are rarely mentioned in the list of necessities.

After all, “Frodo wouldn’t have gotten far without Sam.”

Except in very rare circumstances, we constantly rely on each other to provide these necessities. At their core, these basic needs can create a condition we call health. Every day, about 2 billion people cannot reliably maintain such a condition. Only when one or more people are able to escape this race can they hope to ensure a semi-stable state. That is, when our needs can be met in predictable ways, a human being enters into an entirely different state of being, which we might call wealth.

That is to say time. It is time to project our reality into the future in order to stabilize and protect these basic needs over an endless future, thereby freeing our lives for all kinds of things. When enough humans come together to ensure this condition, we call it a civilization. From such a place, the sky isn’t even the limit.

Civilization is then built on secure necessities – how we acquire and maintain these conditions shapes our values. It is not just that something needs to be done, but also how it is done that creates value. The further our values ​​stray from necessity, the more abstract and potentially destructive they become. Hard work is a value closely linked to most necessities. In this, one must work hard to plant and harvest food or to move water. Build a shelter or an aqueduct. Ingenuity, intelligence, invention and imagination are all intertwined values ​​that, when implemented, can change the way we plant and harvest food or move water. The more a people knows how to apply these values, the less hard they need to work. Smarter application reduces the need for labor. So, over time, a variety of intelligences have paradoxically become more valued than hard work – even to create something, no matter how ingenious, still requires work.

The more a civilization begins to create values ​​that are no longer linked to necessities, the more it sinks into decline. It is becoming more and more difficult to define American values. Liberty, equality and justice. Or Faith, Family and Fitness. Independence, unity, diversity and confidentiality.

Sometimes we have two values ​​that seem to contradict each other. Science and faith. Independence and unity. Necessity and their acquisition create the foundation of civilization. Values ​​often help maintain this foundation. But sometimes we get lost by piling too many abstract values ​​onto neglected foundations. Many of the hardest jobs in the world are also the most necessary but least valued. And the more we devalue them, the more likely it is that they will be misapplied, or even avoided altogether. Agriculture and food production are essential to our survival, and good food is often the most valued in everyday life, yet farmers are among the lowest paid workers in our country. Jobs in water and wastewater management are perhaps the most essential but share a similar fate. Plus, these are often “crappy” jobs that no one wants to do in the first place. Shouldn’t a combination of hard work, necessity and undesirability lead to a higher salary?

“In 1968, a strike by sanitation workers lasted 6 days in New York. With waste piling up to the chest, a state of emergency had to be declared and demands met. It turns out that New York couldn’t live without garbage collectors. A few years later, in Ireland, in 1970, one of the only reported bankers’ strikes lasted almost six months. Eighty-five percent of the money supply was inaccessible – experts predicted economic disaster – but not much happened. Eventually, the bankers went back to work with few of their demands met. » (Rutger Bregman)

Today, the more obscure and abstract an industry becomes, the more we seem to value it – even if its function is largely irrelevant.

Our civilization has become increasingly complex, with new industries experiencing constant growth and decline. Value is derived and given. And only sometimes does this correspond to necessity. Funnily enough, I sometimes get paid to ski – much more than a lifty. But if the elevator doesn’t work and operators and mechanics can’t get it started, a busy industry quickly begins to collapse. And we question what is necessary and what is abstract luxury.

We choose our values, but not what is necessary to survive. And so, I implore you to vote. When you’re out in the field, maybe ask yourself: What do I value, these values ​​of necessity? Food and clean water? What happens when our climate changes and disrupts our food and water systems? Do you value freedom? Freedom from what? Perhaps the freedom to bear arms – does that include freedom of choice? Is it independence or unity?

In this country, we can choose what we want to see become a reality.

“A people who value their privileges above their principles soon lose both” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

World Cup and Olympic skier Wiley Maple grew up in Aspen.