Today, many Americans seem to be trapped in apathy, unwilling to become involved in and take responsibility for events around them. They prefer instead to stand aside and wait for others to correct injustices, or find ways to improve the nation's unsatisfactory state of affairs. The few that protest – such as the Occupy Wall Street crowd – do so in frustration, but present no coherent plan for improvement. Here are some examples of this civic malaise.

A group of employees recently stood by and did nothing, listening to screams of terror from a woman being assaulted. They apparently didn't think they should interfere in what might be a private matter. The ongoing criminal acts of a Penn State football coach were reported within the university hierarchy, but not to the police, for fear of adverse publicity for the school's treasured football program. In Washington every proposal by the Administration to improve the nation's financial and employment situation has been voted down by the opposing Party, regardless of its benefit to the nation, presumably to weaken the President before the 2012 election.

In Richmond the recent election has shifted power toward those who endorse a Western Bypass, an expensive developers' dream that will do little to correct the real traffic problems of Prince William, Fauquier and Loudoun Counties. In Loudoun the election for the Board of Supervisors drew only 28% of eligible voters to the polls. The incoming Supervisors, all Republicans whose campaigns were heavily financed by Real Estate and Construction Industry money, will be free to do as their supporters wish with County planning and zoning, continuing the county's explosive growth and associated higher taxes, crowded schools and gridlocked highways. Despite politicians' enthusiasm for new businesses as tax generators, people-intensive businesses – the type Loudoun favors – bring with them new resident employees who need more services than they and their employers pay for in taxes, a net loss to existing tax payers.

Some new Supervisors talk of taking a sharp knife to Loudoun's budget, three quarters of which goes to schools. Our nation's future depends on the children educated with those funds. There may be savings to be found, but the rapid growth of Loudoun's school-age population is a fact, not a presumption. Schooling costs will rise. Unless politically involved citizens can convince their government officials of the dangers of continued rapid development, Loudoun's victims of this election will be families with children, commuters and tax-payers, most of whom stayed home on November 8th, apparently because voting was inconvenient.

Democracy works only if an informed and aware electorate participates. If most citizens stand aside, those aggressively pushing personal interests will prevail, eventually destroying the freedom that a functioning democratic government should ensure. America's promise and progress is not an entitlement from Heaven. It was conceived and developed by the imagination, courage and sacrifices of men and women who worked and fought to make it happen, from Jamestown on. It is our inheritance. It is not for us to squander, but to protect and enhance for our children. Purple believes, and prays, that this election is an aberration. He hopes it signifies only that apathetic Democrats and Independents were out-organized, out-hustled and out-financed by an aggressive right wing element. If not, if it truly reflects what our neighbors think, then we may lose the soul of the community that attracted so many of us to its peaceful, rural life.

Whatever the mood of the non-voters, the recent election is a call to arms for those who revere the Virginia Piedmont. It is our home, our legacy from earlier generations, and it is well worth saving. The time to do so has arrived. Get to know your supervisor, your delegate and your senator. Tell him or her what you think. Regardless of who financed their election, their oath is to represent all of us, even non-voters.