I didn’t pay attention to politics. Then my house fell down | Opinion

My father taught me many truths. One of these was, when I found myself in any situation, to ask: “What is my part?”

I had forgotten this until I was much older. I liken it to living in a house — a really nice house, the best house on the block, and everyone thought so. One day, I noticed a tiny little crack in the foundation on the right side of my basement wall. I ignored it.

Over the next 30 years, I continued to ignore the crack, as I was quite busy living the American dream — wife, two great kids, good job, yada, yada, yada. Down in the foundation of my home, the crack got larger and larger.

One day, the basement wall developed a leak — groundwater was seeping through the crack. I called a repairman and he came over to take a look. He told me the crack was serious and I should pay attention to it. I told him just to plaster over the crack to stop the leak of groundwater and thought, “Next buyer’s concern.”

Recently, I noticed the crack had grown severely. It had become larger than even the part the mason had covered over. My wall was literally starting to crumble right before my eyes. My beautiful home — what is happening here?

I should have asked, “What is my part?” I ignored the damage for decades, when I could have worked to fix the problem before it got too big to repair.

Yes, the house represents my country. When I was in college, I demonstrated against the Vietnam War, but not in the protests that grew violent, which I thought were wrong. Eventually, Richard Nixon signed a peace accord (after he had used the war to get reelected). And I went politically dormant, thinking, “OK, we did our part.”

Over the decades, I have voted every time in the presidential election — but not in the off-years between them. And not in the state elections, nor the county elections, and not even in the town elections where I lived.

The crack grew.

I began to participate in elections again with the first presidential campaign of Barack Obama, and I was thrilled when he won — the mason covering over the crack.

Ten years later, living in Overland Park, I found myself with some time, so I became a campaign worker for someone running for congress, Sharice Davids. The Republicans had held the seat for quite a while, and of course had basically ignored those they supposedly represented. Against the odds, Davids won.

Again, I thought, “Great — my job is done.”

Then the right side of my house (where the crack was) fell down. I was in shock! I blamed the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, those who didn’t vote, those who were fooled by Donald Trump — everyone but myself.

Until one day, looking in a mirror, my father’s words came back to me: “What is your part?”

”Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country,” said John F. Kennedy

See you all Saturday at the No Kings demonstration.

Michael King is an independent voter and Ohio native who moved to the Kansas City area in 1996. He lives in Overland Park.

Editor’s note: A No Kings Kansas City demonstration will take place March 28 at Mill Creek Park on the Country Club Plaza starting at noon.

This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 5:06 AM.