Greetings.
I have been having issues with the computer again, so last night, after the announcement of our new President-Elect, I wanted to get something posted as quickly as possible that portrayed what I was feeling. Hence the Hail to the Chief post.
That post was all emotion.
Let me now briefly focus on the intellectual side of things. The "Good Ol' Boys" club to which I was referring could also be called "The Man." People often laugh when you say it that way, but if you stand back and look at it, even without an organized conspiracy it's pretty fair to say that the country, or the system, has been controlled by out-of-touch, older, rich white men since it's inception. A network of people whose only real ideology revolves around quid pro quo politics that was only encouraged by the election and re-election of George W. Bush.
Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not expecting a drastic change all at once, and to be honest, I don't even know if I would bet that President-Elect Obama will do the things he says he will. What I am encouraged by is the fact that millions of younger voters and minorities stood up yesterday and said "We're awake and we're relevant!"
That, my friends, is a start. If we want real change to come to this country and this world, we have to do what we, the people, have always done. We have to come together and make our voices heard. So let's do our best to ensure that President-Elect Obama can't forget the promises he made or the ideals of hope and prosperity for which he has become a symbol. Our voices were heard yesterday, we can't let up now.
When I wrote yesterday that it's over and that we've won, I was just referring to the opening battle. The war is still on, but I'm happy to say that I believe the tide has just turned.
I am the Reverend Humpy and I have approved this message.
2 comments:
I don't think I can agree with your sentiment here. Let me explain why. You see, people wanted change. That's fine, hell, I wanted change from 'W.' However, I don't think the young people are getting the change they want because they're still playing the same game where the rich, old, out-of-touch, white men have won for the last 200+ years. That's quite a streak. I don't think it will be matched again, but I'm not going to say that a shift of any type is going to happen.
That's because I don't think electing ANYONE or passing ANY legislation is really going to change anything. As historic as it is that someone other than a white guy got elected (which really isn't historic outside the US, let's also not forget Barack is half-white) we can't forget that a) Barack Obama is a POLITICIAN and b) this is what POLITICIANS DO. I have seen nothing/heard nothing that would make me think that Barack is any different.
For real, lasting change, we need a revolutionary who is living for something that they think is worth dying for, and are not afraid to do so. To prove this point, please compare the following lists of people:
1. George H. W. Bush
2. Newt Gingrich
3. Jimmy Carter
4. Richard Nixon
5. Joseph McCarthy
vs.
1. Ghandi
2. Martin Luther King Jr.
3. Joan of Arc
4. Jesus Christ
5. Mother Teresa
Who would you rather follow?
Oh Dan,
You always find a way to make me say to myself "Hmm, I never thought of it like that before." I love that about you.
As for your point here, I think you are absolutely right if we are thinking of change in a fairly instant sense of the word. I do, however have faith that the overall zeitgeist is heading in the right direction again, whereas in the previous eight years it has seemed to me to be going backward.
I guess what I am saying is that if you look at humanity from a more up close and quantum perspective, it is pretty easy to get discouraged and believe that human nature is always going to keep us in the ugliness we see around us. If, however, you look at the human history from a more long-term perspective, little by little we are becoming more humaine and more conscious of our impact on the world around us. I mean, at least we aren't feeding people to lions anymore, and wholesale genocide is, for the most part, seen as an absolutely dispicable act by the international community, wheras a coule of thousand years ago, we couldn't really say those things.
I just really want to be optimistic about things, I guess.
B
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