Optimism
Okay, I broke down, so I will write something political on the eve of the first election I will vote in.By all accounts, this is a close one. I don't know who will win tomorrow, but I hope common sense will win, hint, hint. Short of that, I have another secret weapon, a trait of the American people that is almost unique among all nations in the world. What is it?
It seems to me that this campaign to win the votes of Americans have been waged on things in the past. From 60's and 70's Vietnam to today's Iraq. From what Kerry said when he was in college to a Bush gaffe a week ago. From a son's attempt to fulfill his father's legacy to a controversial election four years ago. Some of these history may be relevant except we forget the fact that Americans HATE HISTORY. Americans don't carry baggages of the past with the same kind of devotion as people from other parts of the world. The Palestinians have mastered the victim's complex. How could you shed the memory of hatred when you parade the dead "martyrs" around for a whole day? The Chineses and Koreans are still holding grudges against the Japanese for the action of a militaristic government nearly a century ago. You name it, the imprint of history and the emotional weight of past tragedies are usually a part of any group of people's collective identity.
Yet, the American people are uniquely OPTIMISTIC, almost to the point of annoying to the rest of the world. This is the great thing about Americans, they rarely look back, usually forward. While millions of Americans live in poverty, they still hold on to the American dream. Do the poor hate the rich? No, because they somehow believe that one day they can be rich too. They are unburdened by the past. You think the 9/11 attacks were horrifying and has changed the collective mentality of the American people? Go to any airport. Take a look at people bitching about the long lines. Or better, the lack there of, the security has become much more lax just a year after the attacks. What the passengers are worried about is whether they can make that connection, and the family/friends/business/vacation that awaits them at the other end.
So no, I don't think in the end past terrorist attacks and Bush's resolute bravado of "dead or alive" to capture OBL and the catastrophic success in Iraq are the most overriding concerns of the Americans. Americans will look to future: what kind of job they will have in a year, where their children will be (in college and not in Iraq hopefully) in four years, what the insurance/prescription bill will look like when they grow older, and all in all, what kind of freedom and guaranteed rights and opportunities for happiness will they have to look forward to in this country.
Optimistic, that I am. Hey if your guy doesn't win tomorrow, look, there's always 2008.
posted by hedgehog @ 7:57 PM
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