Instead of pulling the usual angsty teenager bit about friends, family, school, etc., I'd like to focus my innate teenage-brooding powers on the demise of public appreciation for our political system.
On November 4, 2008, the first non-white president in the United States transcended an election to take his place in the history books. While some view this as more substantial than others, we must look to it as a sign of significant progress for Americans. Now, I do not agree with Barack Obama's politics, nor do I care for his speaking style; the man is brilliant, sophisticated and unbelievably persuasive, but I've consistently found myself a bit put off by his seemingly pretentious diction. Despite this, I respect what he has done; shattering apparent race and age barriers, the 47-year-old wonder blasted through any and all opposition, defying early skepticism to sweep the electoral votes and claim the place he considered rightfully his.
So, in the United States of America, a nation whose hypocritical racial tendencies have garnered unwanted international attention for generations, a black man has been elected president.
And there's nothing.
No riots.
No mass protests.
No assassination attempts.
Just generally calm acceptance of an American tradition.
And that is probably the best part of this whole affair. I was never going to be too pleased no matter who won, but the fact that an African-American beat out the living embodiment of electoral tradition astounds me. In, of course, a good way.
I started off my morning with a lecture from a liberal teacher about how amazing we should find John McCain for so graciously bowing out after the election announcement. The sheer impressiveness of his speech moved her to tears, as she repeatedly warned us not to take our system of peacefully passing power for granted. Yet even as we exited the room, her pleas to treat this day as extraordinarily as it was instead of just puttering about as usual still ringing in our ears, we began to acclimate and forget that which had captivated us for months previous.
And, complementing the great strides made evident by a lack of anger, the lack of appreciation is probably the worst part of this whole affair.
There's popular talk, most of it facetious in nature, that some radical will assassinate Obama and then the whole country goes to hell. Usually such comments are met with either disapproval or amusement, then promptly forgotten.
But what if the whisper of assassination were a legitimate fear present in the minds of all citizens?
What if we as a society collectively grimaced at the prospect of such a radical new leader assuming power, not out of prejudice, but because we knew what violence would surely ensue?
Basically, what if we lived in one of a number of countries that is not the United States of
America?
Here most of us are stumped. It's inexpressibly difficult for most of us to even imagine living as citizens suffering under a truly oppressive, tyrannical government. We disregard how lucky we are to have been born under the star-spangled banner, choosing to focus on every slight failing in the state. Yet even with our flawed system, we possess more freedoms than billions of other people, and for that, we should be willing to negotiate with whoever the president-elect is.
Right now, that person emerged as Barack Obama. So, if you've been a longtime supporter, stick with him. If you're not much of a fan, grin and bear it.
Because, depressing thought as it is, things could always be worse.
Sure, some people call Obama a socialist, and I think McCain bears a striking resemblance to Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine(yes, I'm quite proud of the Star Wars reference). But no matter what their personal leanings may be, America ensures the inherent impossibility of any true dominance by an individual(although the Democratic Triumvirate, as I've dubbed Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, may be cause for concern). In 2012, if necessary, we can change directions once again, so I can deal with Obama being president.
Can you?
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