I have loved E.B. White since I was a child. I met him through his words, the words he wrote in the book “Charlotte’s Web.”

To me, the story was about the importance of words.

Charlotte is a barn spider who is friends with Wilbur the pig. Charlotte is smart and knows her friend will be slaughtered.

She ultimately saves Wilbur by spinning words in her web: “Some Pig” are the first words she weaves. People take notice and the farm becomes an attraction. When excitement subsides, Charlotte spins “Terrific” and later “Radiant” into her web.

Once Wilbur’s future is secure, Charlotte, herself near death, weaves “Humble” into her web.

I was raised in a family that valued words. My father was a newspaperman, my mother was a letter writer — pounding out missives on her old Underwood typewriter — together, they ran a weekly newspaper, and all of us were readers.

I was thrilled this past Fourth of July when my sister Heather, a printer who lives in Vermont, sent her monthly calendar printed with words from E.B. White.

In the midst of World War II, the Writers’ War Board had asked for a statement on the meaning of democracy. The New Yorker, where E.B. White was a staff writer for most of his life, published his words on July 3, 1943. Here is what he wrote:
 

It is presumably our duty to comply with such a request, and it is certainly our pleasure. Surely, the board knows what democracy is. It is the line that forms on the right. It is the don’t, in don’t shove. It is the hole in the stuffed shirt through which the sawdust slowly trickles; the dent in the high hat. Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right, more than half of the time. It is the feeling of privacy in the voting booths; the feeling of communion in the libraries; the feeling of vitality everywhere. Democracy is the letter to the editor. Democracy is the score at the beginning of the ninth. It is an idea which hasn’t been disproved yet; a song, the words of which have not gone bad. It’s the mustard on the hot dog, and the cream in the rationed coffee. Democracy is a request from a War Board — in the middle of the morning, in the middle of a war — wanting to know what democracy is.
 

Much has changed in the eighty years since E.B White wrote those words. When a country is at war — as we have recently seen with the brutal Hamas attack on Israel — once-diverse factions pull together to fight for a greater good. 

Our nation is not now at war, as it was in 1943, against regimes like imperialist Japan or Nazi Germany — widely accepted as evil. Those nations have now become our allies and have adopted a democratic as opposed to authoritarian world view.

Rather, factions of our own nation are at war with each other. A sense of common good and shared civility have receded if not been lost altogether. Does the line still form in an orderly fashion with a sense we shouldn’t shove? Has a stuffed shirt, filled with its own pomposity and crassness, come to represent anyone it doesn’t disparage?

We still have hope when we go to one of our local library events and feel the sense of communion. We still have hope when we receive a letter to the editor — even if we disagree with its viewpoint.

Why? Because it means someone is expressing their ideas, what matters to them. Our democracy has evolved since its founding, encompassing more than just white men with property. And it has evolved since E.B. White wrote of its importance four score years ago.

It is still a song with words that have not gone bad — we simply have to sing them, loud and strong, with different accents and in different timbres of voice.

At the center of this — especially now — is the privacy, we would even say the sanctity, of the voting booths. Much has been done in recent years to make Americans lose faith in the foundation of the democratic process: voting.

Even here, in Albany County, there has been a campaign to make citizens believe the voting process is not secure. New York Citizens Audit posted signs in our towns with false claims, which our reporter clearly debunked.

Do not lose trust in the voting process; the dozens of court challenges trying to undermine the 2020 presidential election results came to naught.

As you read this, early voting in New York state is underway and Election Day approaches on Nov. 7.

You can read in this edition of The Enterprise what is on your ballot. You can go to our newspaper website to read the issues-based interviews for the contested local races. You can click on the online forums we conducted for contested races in Guilderland and New Scotland.

They are civil discussions with candidates expressing varied views on issues important to our communities. See how your views line up with the candidates’, or not, and cast your ballots accordinging. Do not abdicate this essential responsibility.

It is your duty; it can also be your pleasure.

We were disappointed that more county posts and some town posts were not contested. For democracy to work well, voters need choices.

Democracy in our nation is in peril.

Earlier this fall, for the first time ever, the foundations for 13 presidents since Herbert Hoover — Republicans and Democrats alike — together issued a statement on the need for Americans to “reaffirm the importance of democratic values, civic responsibility, civility, and a pluralistic society.”

Here is their statement — from the centers for Roosevelt, Kennedy, and LBJ to those for both Bushes, Reagan, and Nixon — words we hope our readers will take to heart:

“The unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, are principles that bind us together as Americans. They have enabled the United States to strive toward a more perfect union, even when we have not always lived up to those ideals.

“As a diverse nation of people with different backgrounds and beliefs, democracy holds us together. We are a country rooted in the rule of law, where the protection of the rights of all people is paramount. At the same time, we live among our fellow citizens, underscoring the importance of compassion, tolerance, pluralism, and respect for others.

“We, the undersigned, represent a wide range of views across a breadth of issues. We recognize that these views can exist peaceably side by side when rooted in the principles of democracy. Debate and disagreement are central features in a healthy democracy. Civility and respect in political discourse, whether in an election year or otherwise, are essential.

“Americans have a strong interest in supporting democratic movements and respect for human rights around the world because free societies elsewhere contribute to our own security and prosperity here at home. But that interest is undermined when others see our own house in disarray. The world will not wait for us to address our problems, so we must both continue to strive toward a more perfect union and help those abroad looking for U.S. leadership.

“Each of us has a role to play and responsibilities to uphold. Our elected officials must lead by example and govern effectively in ways that deliver for the American people. This, in turn, will help to restore trust in public service. The rest of us must engage in civil dialogue; respect democratic institutions and rights; uphold safe, secure, and accessible elections; and contribute to local, state, or national improvement.

“By signing this statement, we reaffirm our commitment to the principles of democracy undergirding this great nation, protecting our freedom, and respecting our fellow citizens. When united by these convictions, America is stronger as a country and an inspiration for others.”

So sing the song, keep the words from going bad. Cast your vote on Nov. 7. Then write a letter to your editor, speak the truth in civil tones. Keep democracy strong. Put the feeling of vitality everywhere.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer, editor