01.21.09
obamania
i’d like to share a post written by a friend of mine, morgan mosloskie:
okay. i NEVER write facebook notes. ever. most of the time i leave my thoughts to run wildly about my gray matter, never daring to hope that i might be able to lasso a few of them into sentences. but today, on the eve of an event which has finally seemed to wake up the hearts and minds of so many americans, i feel like i have to say something. unfortunately, this something may end up sounding like i’m trying to piss on the parade. be forewarned.
the election of barack obama is exciting for america in so many ways. we’ve finally dealt a new and major blow to the problem of racism in this country. we’ve chosen a leader who seems to champion progressive social policies. we’ve elected a young man eager to raise the quality of life for those commonly forgotten or tread on by the empire: single mothers, children, the old, and the sick. things really are looking up.
but, here’s what’s been turning the cogs and wheels for me lately:
i’ve noticed that the passion with which people are embracing this new president-elect is disproportionate to the things which he’s accomplished, or even promised. seeing his image emblazoned on everything from magazines to t-shirts to shopping bags, commonly with the word “hope” under it, i wonder: what are the millions of americans about to gather on the mall in washington tomorrow hoping for, exactly?
better government programs for the poor, perhaps.
free healthcare for all, i’d imagine.
more appropriate taxes for the rich, for sure.
the addition of more jobs to a hurting economy.
less militancy in our stance towards the rest of the world, so perhaps america might stop bullying.these are all valid things to hope for from obama’s presidency. and as a supporter of his candidacy, i’m delighted that he’ll get a shot at it. but i think that this nascent hunger for change and hope in the american people is indicative of a desire for the imperative behind all those changes (listed in relation to the list above):
an end to greed
an end to sickness
an end to the fear that makes wealth not available to be shared
purposeful work for mankind
peace with other nations — an end to murderand here’s where i start to rain on the parade. there might be someone who can accomplish the first list, but there is no human who can accomplish the second. and with any logic, we can see that the first list will never end without the radical changes in human nature that would be necessary to achieve the second list. that is, the first list is only symptom control for the diseases mentioned in the second.
we cannot end poverty without ending greed, and we cannot end greed by any amount of government programs or reasoning. we cannot hope for an end to sickness, no matter who gets free healthcare. we can tax the rich, but we can never make them stop fearing the future enough to share freely with the broken and poor. we can create jobs, but we cannot create purpose. we can stop bombing other countries, but we will never root out the place in the human heart that houses murderous intent. we are incapable of doing these things.
and that’s why i’m so moved by the hunger for hope i see here in america right now, on the eve of obama’s inauguration. it’s like we’re all starved children looking at a bowl of wax fruit. the hunger is real, but the fruit won’t satisfy it. at best, it’ll give us something to chew on, but we can never hope for it to lessen the pangs in our stomach.
so i challenge you, if you think it’s worth it at all, to join me as i spend today examining these hunger pangs for hope. what are we really looking for? what do we really need to satisfy us? (mosloskie, facebook note)
wellsaid. i believe that we need more expression – more discourse [words words words pictures music and even *gasp* facebook notes] i believe we need not agree as much as we need to step back and listen and dareisay hope, but i hope that if excitement over this dude who certainly has his work cut out for him can spawn just a touch of that necessary dialogue between whomever and whatever ideas then perhaps just a shred of human advancement comes from that . . . and yeah yeah yeah
please keep writing
another well put collection of words on the unfolding obamania: [bai, m. "the edge of the mystery," nytimes]
