Reading the Aug. 28 Star-Advertiser article “The Youth Vote,” I wondered why the beautiful young people interviewed do not share my concerns and sense of urgency about the upcoming presidential election.

Maybe they do not see the greatness of our country and its democratic institutions and the need to defend them the way I do. No election is a “whatever” election, especially this one. In this election, the very nature of our democracy, with its freedoms and values, is on the ballot.

Perhaps young people born here do not see the uniqueness, preciousness and fragility of American democracy and think it will always be there. The article therefore also took me back to my own youth and the summer of 1956 when I watched my first Democratic National Convention.

I had arrived in the U.S. from Switzerland on a green card at the age of 21, having spontaneously taken the place of a friend who had changed her mind about going to New Jersey to work for a year as an au pair.

My au-pair family was a wonderful Jewish family, originally from Belgium, who had fled Hitler’s persecution. The couple had lost parents and several siblings in Nazi death camps. They knew well what autocratic regimes were capable of.

When I expressed my impressions of America, my au-pair mother would always enthusiastically say, “This is America. This is possible only in America.”

I had come to the U.S. with the firm intention of returning to my good federal job back home after one year. But I stayed. I stayed because I had become captivated, awed and inspired by what I saw in this country, and not least by what I saw at the 1956 DNC.

I found myself in a country, a unique democracy, guided by a Constitution of novel and noble principles, made up of people from all corners of the world working together under common ideals, moved forward by hard work and innovation, imbued with hope, optimism, dreams and a belief that everything was possible in America. A country of idealism, kindness and volunteerism like no other.

What a unique and wonderful country! I thought so in 1956, and now at age 90, I still do, despite the complexities and deficiencies present in our country.

This is not 1956 when the contest was between Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and Republican incumbent president Dwight Eisenhower. Both were honorable men who may have had differences of opinion and policies, but who were both strong believers, upholders and defenders of our precious, unique-in-the-world, democracy, our Constitution and political institutions, our freedoms, our national security, and our values of human decency.

The current election puts in jeopardy most of what they and those after them, both Democrat and Republican, held dear — that is, until the election of 2016. The 2024 election is about two opposite visions for our country: one of upholding our democracy and its institutions, and the other of tearing them down.

Today, there is the very real possibility that a candidate whose past presidential record of chaos, divisiveness and great damage to our democratic institutions, including our Supreme Court, may be elected once again.

We should be concerned about the future of our democracy when a candidate — who has been found guilty of multiple crimes yet believes he is above the law — spreads false conspiracies and refuses to acknowledge a fair election and to respect the peaceful transfer of power.

This election will likely be decided by the youth vote, by those who in many areas of their lives have the most to lose.

For the sake of us all, and that of the world, my hope is that our youth will become more engaged, will appreciate the privilege of living in this country, and will vote to uphold our democracy, the rights and freedoms under it, and, last but not least, America’s basic human decency.

Kailua homemaker Ursula Retherford has a background in sociology and advocates for social and environmental sustainability.