Diaper Heads

Did the election get to you? I actually cried when Obama was announced as president-elect. I think the stress and tension surrounding the campaign really affected me. I was worried that this country would let me down again, as it has so many times in the past. Thinking of the Gore/Bush race made me hesitant to be optimistic that Obama could win, even when the polls said he was ahead. Interestingly, I have seen changes since JT was born that occasionally let me feel somewhat optimistic. For example, politicians actually acknowledge global warming and the need to care for our environment. A few years ago I read Michael Crichton's State of Fear and was deeply concerned that this popular author had such little concern for the threat of global warming and that he also had the ear of the president. [By the way, I just googled him and discovered he died today. The end of an era.] Then came Al Gore, who could have been an interesting president, but since he didn't get that job, he moved on to capture America's (and the world's) attention with his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, a movie that I thought was interesting, but not real exciting. And even though I didn't think much of the movie, it made people stop and think - even my sister was emotionally moved by the movie and nearly traumatized for almost a year. That was when I said to Mr. Burli, maybe people are going to start to think beyond profit, greed, and living in the moment and take note that we are all part of one big interconnected system. Actually, I think I said something equally pretentious (I won't lie), like, let's try and remember to tell JT when he grows up that there was a paradigm shift in American thinking around 2006.
And no, I was not all weepy about Obama just because of environmental concerns. My concern for the environment ties into my view of humanity and the concern for fellow human beings. I blame my parents and my Methodist upbringing for my sometimes irrational concern with other people's well being. I do not feel that unfettered capitalism and neo-liberalist policies will be beneficial to the majority of the people on our planet. I do not believe that "re-distribution of wealth" is a bad thing. I do believe that people sometimes need a helping hand, a shoulder to lean on, the chance to start over again, and that our society has structures that make it difficult for people to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" or succeed when the cards are stacked against them. Having lived in 2 other countries, both of which have substantial social nets, my wish is for this country to implement policies that respect every human's rights, that works to insure that people have at least the minimum needed to survive, and that each of us has the chance to live up to our potential. I don't think we all need to own a house with three giant screen televisions and SUVs in the driveway (such a materialistic goal, that American dream). We don't all need to have as much money as Bill Gates. What we do need is respect for each other and concern for our fellow Americans. We need the assurance that if we get sick, there will be a medical system with nationalized insurance that can take care of us. We need to stop fighting imperialistic wars and focus on humanitarian goals. Once I stood with a group of American students on the lawn of the German president's house and sang John Lennon's "Imagine" - I want to feel that naively optimistic again. I never will, but maybe yesterday was the closest I came to it in a while.

JT will most likely not remember anything about yesterday - or if he does, it will be the diaper hats he and his friend put on at the election party. I stayed home and tried to grade midterms and field emails about paper topics.