I’ve been accused of giving light poles the benefit of the doubt, so despite the occasional appearance of my snarky writing personality (I am Gen X, after all), I tend to be an optimistic person. So what follows is coming from a space I have never felt in my short but long Republican dominated life: a totally joyous frickin’ feeling. Yeah, joy. I said it.
It won’t be a surprise, then, when I tell you that when I discovered this morning that Obama had won (I’m in Italy so I didn’t know until 6:00 am), I wept. And wept. Never in my life have I cried as a result of the political process (no doubt, when Bush won his second term, my feelings were equally strong, but on the morbid end of the scale).
As I watched reactions and celebrations on the net I felt like I was witnessing something unprecedented in American history, as if a war had ended. I don’t want to analyze too much people’s reactions, because everyone has different reasons for feeling what they are feeling right now (I can’t imagine what those on the right are going through, but maybe a little taste of their own medicine will do them good), but there is little doubt that the spontaneous nature of these public outbursts (such as college kids dancing in front of the White House, or Kenya declaring a national holiday) is reminiscent of those situations when you are released from an oppressive relationship, like quitting a shitty job, or divorcing your business partner, or leaving an abusive spouse.
These kinds of tears are ones of connection and opening, not their opposite of mourning or loss.
I think for Americans this is a bit like our Berlin Wall moment. In the end all historical analogies are false, but what is pertinent here is that some kind of bottled up oppression and fear has now been dissipated (for the moment). And for that I can say wholeheartedly that I have never been happier to see the genie of hope freed from its bottle, as I am today, to scurry about and do its mischief.
We may end up being disappointed, or find that business as usual will prevail. But I feel as if the evil empire’s illusion of control is melting like the Wicked Witch of the West under a pale of Dorothy’s water. Evidence for such a claim comes from the fact that negative and fear-based elections ads backfired on the Republicans. Even if it/them choose to reassert themselves at a later date through some nefarious means (I don’t want to imagine that right now), for now I think all the conspiracy nuts can eat some crow for Thanksgiving and be grateful that we still have a modicum of democracy to emerge with; democracy, after all, is always unfinished business. It’s a process and architecture for change.
This moment is genuinely the first time in my life I have felt good about my country and restored the faith I have in people to take charge when it’s truly necessary. This doesn’t make me a patriot or nationalist, just hopeful that our “newness” is an asset that enables us to innovate and reinvent ourselves, which is particularly important at this crucial juncture in history. The fact that the Internet was so crucial in getting Obama elected should give us a sense that we are moving in the right direction. In Italy, where it descends into fascism, it’s nice to see hope on the other side of the world energize the local opposition here in Europe.
Godspeed the next four years. Now it’s time to do the real work of democracy and to change our culture of separation and destruction one heart at a time.
Antonio,
I cried too while Obama was making that killer speech.
It was amazing to see those transcendent leadership qualities in someone who be the figurehead and symbol of American government. My whole life I’ve had to work against the system, advocating for change. Now, suddenly, I don’t have to work against the system, because the symbolic leader of the system wants to throw out the old guard as much as I do.
In LA yesterday, turning in my rental car, I asked the check-n clerk how business was. With his thick Middle Eastern, he said the company was laying off people and he was worried about his job.
I said I know, I got laid off too, last month, after twelve years. That’s why I was in LA, interviewing for a solar energy job.
I told him there’s $55 trillion missing from the system, and Obama was probably going to address those responsible somehow, at some point.
When I mentioned Obama, his face lit up. He said that’s right, OBAMA IS CHANGE. We were immediately connected, enlivened, willing to work harder than ever before to make sure the system doesn’t steal from us again.
How cool is it that this same emotion is being expressed from so many odd corners of the political spectrum. Colin Powell, and some Oklahoma Republican congressman who formerly worked for the Bush White House ENDORSING the supposed socialist, Condoleeza getting emotional over the election results in a press conference, even W. himself calling the new era “uplifting”–so many people feeling that weight lifted;, the weight of subtle, systemic oppression fading.
Keep the faith. And turn it up a notch.
Ken, thanks for the great comment. That was very inspiring.