So where do I begin with this. Well as you all probably know I have been all about Obama from the very beginning so I am putting that personal bias out there from the beginning so you can take this with a grain of salt if you so desire for all those that are of the more conservative mindset, or you can listen and think about it your call. But anyway...
So since the election started I have been in three countries for extended periods of time. I watched the Iowa results come in from a hotel room in Putamayo Colombia and listened to human rights workers there talk about how their country would get better with Obama in office because he would be less likely to fund their corrupt government that has them in the crossfire (Bush's strongest ally in this hemisphere is President Uribe of Colombia and continues to funnel them billions of dollars for their military which as proven links to para-military groups who are responsible for some of the most gruesome human rights violations you can imagine... good thing we are paying for it all, makes me proud to be an American). I talked with displaced people there that asked me the oddest question, or to me it was the oddest question, "will they let Obama win?" Not, "can obama win?" or "will obama win?" but "will they let him win?" The thought of whether or not the powers at be with their "swift boat" esq maneuvers had never crossed my mind, was I naive or were they overly cynical? Probably a little bit of both.
So in March I found myself walking around dusty side streets in the highlands of Peru as state after state voted and it looked more and more like he was going to run away with the whole deal. I walked around and saw handmade Obama posters put up in peoples windows and once finding out I was American the first topic of conversation was again "will they let obama win?" Was I missing something here that every one else knew that I didn't? Were they all privy to some sort of bit of information that had been withheld from me? Granted both Colombia and Peru both have horrible records of elections being stolen but the US's record is only slightly better with the supreme court deciding one election and then another being high jacked by swift boat BS and the unbearable thought of two consenting adults making their own decisions and living with the consequences.
Now I am in Liberia and it is Obama mania. Recently I was walking around the streets of Monrovia the capital, with my Barack Obama pin proudly placed on my bag for all to see and wow did everyone see it. Sometimes I couldn't walk more than 15 steps before another group of people would remark on my button and usually call me over to talk about Obama. Thankfully I just got done reading his books so I could tell them all about his story and what not. Again came that pesky question though "will they let him win?" So here is what I gathered from these talks of mine. Liberians like Barack Obama because:
- He is black and they are black and they think it would be amazing to have a black man as president of the United States of America.
- His dad was from Kenya, that was just one generation ago. Because of the war here many of them have family that have become refugees in the United States and it gives them hope that maybe their sister or brothers son that was born in America could become the president.
- It makes people believe in the Utopian image that is the United States of America. So many people want to come to America because it is the land of opportunity, the American dream and all that jazz. The defender of justice and the all around good guys. However the last 8 years with a war in Iraq that everyone except a few holdouts in the states recognizes was based on a lie, our making torture an official part of US foreign policy, our ignoring of international law and regulation, our down turn in economy, our negligence about the environment etc etc have all darkened that image. However with this one move the US has shown the world that underneath the dirt, filth and lies of the last 8 years we are still that shiny beacon pulling ourselves out from the mess we have made.
People around the world are in awe of the American experiment and what we are again accomplishing. In any other country no member of a minority group would ever get that far. Would a Turk ever become president of Germany, hell no. How about a Copt the president or leader of Egypt, I wouldn't hold your breath. Maybe a Shiite becomes the leader of Saudi Arabia or a black man becomes president of any of the countries in South America? yeah right. Only in America could this happen and it gives the world hope. Not just Americans are tired of the lies and the bully tactics the world is pretty sick of it as well.
Think of it this way, the election of the next US president will deeply effect the lives of every single human being on this earth nearly without exception and how many people actually get to vote in that election? of the 7 billion plus people only .3 billion actually get a say in this. So if you don't think your vote matters it matters a heck of a lot more than the poor guy sitting in his shack in Liberia that kissed the cover of "dreams of my fathers" when he saw a picture of Obama for the first time.
So I guess I will leave it like this, who will make our country more safe? A person that inspires the world over and reminds the world why America is so special and unique, or the guy that wants us to stay in Iraq for another 100 years. I know my answer better figure out yours...
preaching over for the day. To anyone that this post offended... I would say I'm sorry but I am not. Feel free to leave comments or e-mail me to talk about it though.
5 comments:
Even if Obama is more likely to interact with the rest of the world, he will still find his freedom to set policies that benefit the people of the planet as a whole and US citizens in particular will be compromised by the competitive system between nations.
A question I would like to see put to both candidates is will they respect the sovereign right of US citizens to have their voices heard and respected when it comes to addressing global problems? Too often progress is deflected by vested interests playing one country of against another and threatening to take investment and jobs overseas. Making a pledge to implement the Simultaneous Policy developed and approved by people around the world changes the dynamic and puts US citizens back in control of their country. Which candidate will be first to make the Simultaneous Policy pledge? See more at:
http://globaljusticeideas.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-presidential-
I love your blatant call for comments. Here is mine. I managed to read and absorb the entire political post without once tuning out. ;)
My question/comment posed to you in reaction to your reaction of everyone asking if we will "let" Obama win; well, if their entire existence is based on the construct validity of living in a government where, as you say, elections are stolen and such matters are commonplace, why would it surprise you that they have the same mentality about ours? You say that they semi-worship America and have this so-called naive interpretation of opportunities and fulfilled dreams; that same naivete is probably the basis of their assuming that our voting government works in the same way theirs does. Why would they have any reason to think any differently? Like you said yourself, their existence isn't a display that you can walk away from in three months and say "whew, I've lived among the poor", it is another thing to BE the poor and consequently their mentalities are very limited.
But I rant. I'm done now. :)
Um... I would be very careful with using terms like "their mentalities are very limited." I would not say that their mentalities are very limited, their frame of reference perhaps but to say that their mentalities are limited is I think a bit too... damning, perhaps is the word I am looking for.
And I guess maybe it was a reflection not on their naivety but rather my own in thinking still even after seeing the last two elections, quite literally stolen, that we would actually have a free and fair election in the United States. I mean I like to think that somehow we in the US have a better system and avoid the potholes, or more aptly put the giant freaking crators that countries fall in and then are unable to get themselves out of. But their comments and questions have really just made me think more about how our system, at least in the last 8 years, has not been any better than that of Zimbabwe, Nigeria or Mexico. I think that is more of what I was getting at.
Okay yeah I wasn't implying that their thinking capacities are diminished. That's not what I meant. You know I'm new to this 'political jargon' bit. :) Just that the scope of their ideas is limited to what they've experienced firsthand because their education and access to world news is not as far-reaching as those of richer countries. You know what I mean.
And yeah well you'd think that America would have a far more fair form of government but it doesn't. It's why I stay out of it. ;)
oh asian keng, "all that is needed for evil to triumph in this world is for good (people) to do nothing"
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