I’ve been taking part in coping with collective grief in the days since the American election was decided. There are so many of us (the vast majority of this world) that are disgusted and deeply saddened by the choice so many Americans made on November 2nd. I take heart in that, knowing that we can still work to better the world, to stand in opposition to all that Bush stands for.
I expressed my feelings immediately following the announcement that Bush had won, and mostly my sentiment has been the same. I must admit to feeling some anger about all of this in the hours following that. It’s not something I’m proud of at all, but I did feel it. I suppose I wasn’t prepared fully for the impact of knowing that Bush would be working to damage so much of our world for another four years.
As several people I know have expressed, it really feels like a death. Whether it’s the death of our faith in democracy, the chance that we’d be able to ensure human rights for Americans or the death of soaring optimism that Kerry could take America in a new direction, we all lost something important on November 2nd.
There has been talk that progressives need to change their policies and beliefs to attract American voters. I disagree with this notion wholeheartedly. Yes, politicians need to reflect the desires of their constituents, but we can not allow certain ideals to be burried in order to elect a party. We need to fight for human rights, our environment and every other important, positive aspect of our nations, no matter what. Anything else would be treasion to our global responsibility.
I expressed my feelings immediately following the announcement that Bush had won, and mostly my sentiment has been the same. I must admit to feeling some anger about all of this in the hours following that. It’s not something I’m proud of at all, but I did feel it. I suppose I wasn’t prepared fully for the impact of knowing that Bush would be working to damage so much of our world for another four years.
As several people I know have expressed, it really feels like a death. Whether it’s the death of our faith in democracy, the chance that we’d be able to ensure human rights for Americans or the death of soaring optimism that Kerry could take America in a new direction, we all lost something important on November 2nd.
There has been talk that progressives need to change their policies and beliefs to attract American voters. I disagree with this notion wholeheartedly. Yes, politicians need to reflect the desires of their constituents, but we can not allow certain ideals to be burried in order to elect a party. We need to fight for human rights, our environment and every other important, positive aspect of our nations, no matter what. Anything else would be treasion to our global responsibility.
2 comments on “Coping”
I agree with you 100%
I feel like our country has gone stupid. Too bad all the voting irregularities will go unnoticed with little coverage in US main stream media. ;(