The Diary of Queen Mothy |
Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here written @ 5:08 PM on November 05, 2004 Everyone has already posted a litany of stuff pertaining to the election, but give me just five minutes to get a few things off my chest: Disillusioned. That is what I am. "Abandon hope all ye who enter here." On Wednesday I half-heartedly joked to my friends, "Welp, I'm looking to invest in some fine real estate in Canada, anyone want to chip in for the down payment? I hear Quebec is nice this time of year." Unfortunately, many people replied that they had friends and relatives who were seriously leaving for Canada by the end of this week because they can no longer afford health care or whatnot in this country. In all honesty, I am very sad for these people. I am so disillusioned. The ironic part about all this is that this great experiment in democracy is actually working. It's just that 50% of the country is really bummed about it. Democrat or Republican, vote for whoever the hell you want, people. If you like Bush, spectacular. If you thought Kerry was the way to go, I'm glad you held out your neck for him (because for some of us, it will cost our necks, right?). My philosophy is that you only have a right to bitch if you voted. But here's what I don't get: Republicans and Democrats alike are not thrilled about progress in Iraq, they don't like the current health care system, the economy is shit, there was a huge voter turnout this year with both sides stumping unlike ever before--and Bush was still reelected. For those who are disillusioned like me, however, take heart: there's only four more years we have to put up with this, and this time Bush can't blame anything wrong that happened the past four years on the Clinton administration. You reap what you sew, and I, for one, am a strong believer in karma. Another thing that irks me: people voted mostly on moral issues. Eleven states outlawed gay marriage. I think I am more disheartened and sad about that than the presidency. Why? Because people are writing discrimination into their state constitutions-- and even straight couples are at risk by these laws. Then issues on abortion and other touchy religious viewpoints followed on the heals of the marriage amendments. Here's what I think, (I learned this in my international politics class and I agree with it) take it for what it's worth: in order for a country to survive, in order for a country to have a balance between powers and to keep the populaces happy, in order for a country to prosper with a capitalist economy in the midst of "free trade" (which is an oxymoron if you do the research), you can't always vote according to your conscience, sometimes you have to vote according to what's best for the survival of the nation. And that's not an idealist point of view-- that's realist, people. It's not right. But it's a fact of life since we live in an imperfect world. Case it point: do you think Israel would have survived if it functioned according to the conscience of its religious Jewish peoples? Do you think half the countries of Europe would have survived if they played fair diplomatically in the seventeenth century? Hell, do you think the Catholic Church would have survived if it didn't enforce its ideas through the Inquisition, fund the Crusades and the Thirty Year's War (just as an example)? I guess my point is that the so-called "issues of morality" perhaps should not have been the motivation for half of the voters. Like I said, vote for whoever the hell you want for whatever reason you want-- but be aware of the repercussions. The rest of the world is as stunned as American liberals right now. Since when did "liberal" become such a terrible word? I am a moderate. But I find myself standing slightly more left than ever before. Liberalism isn't for paganism, homosexuals, poor beatnik artists, and abortion, people. Liberalism stands for a change, an idea of "tough love" for your country, the thought that "things can be better for everyone than they are now if we do something about it." Once more, take heart, my countrymen. Change is the one constant in this world, and things will change, one way or the other. The most people who are disillusioned like me can do is soldier on. You can't give up. You have to keep going, right? Okay, so that took longer than five minutes. But now I feel so much better! I'm going to go look for some grub. Take care, folks.
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