I awoke this morning shocked at the tenacity of social conservatives and awed at the vast ignorance of issues evident throughout this country. I am disappointed, but not devastated; rather, I am steeled for the fight that lies ahead, and hopeful for the bright future on the horizon. John Kerry was not my candidate of choice; he merely happened to fit into the catch-all category of “anyone but Bush” that I so vigorously supported. I foresee a better alternative waiting for us in the distance.
The situation in the United States is bad now, and it’s about to get worse. Over the next four years, the Bush administration will complete the impossible structure it has begun to build:
• It will continue to rape the environment. Drilling will most likely commence in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the only remaining five per cent of Alaska’s north slope that is not already open to oil exploration.
• Civil rights and liberties will continue to erode. The most Orwellian provisions of the Patriot Act will probably not be allowed to “sunset” in late 2005, and we may even see Patriot Act II resurrected in a different form. Our government will be permitted to spy on our email and tap our phones without a warrant, and the death penalty will almost certainly be expanded. The Neocons in power will continue to ignore the Geneva Convention while the rest of the world continues to protest.
• The tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans will most likely be made permanent, further dissolving the middle class at its edges; the populations of the homeless and those families living below the poverty line will swell even more than in these past few years, while millionaires grow fatter.
• Social Security funds will continue to deplete. If Bush and his anti-government cabal continue to bankrupt our federal government to line the pockets of big business, there will be little left for the Baby Boomers to retire upon, let alone future generations.
• In all likelihood, Bush will appoint between one and three Supreme Court Justices, who serve for life. Chances are that his first appointment, at least, will be a strict constructionist, a gesture to appease his Evangelical base.
• And of course, Bush will probably continue with his Neoconservative internationalist policy, perhaps justly believing that he now has a mandate for it. Their avowed agenda is simple: to remake the rest of the world in the image of the U.S., by military force if necessary. Some would call it democratization; to others it is simply imperialism under a new name. Whatever it is ultimately labeled by future generations, it is highly likely to increase, along with the bitter enmity towards our nation that it engenders.
But there is a silver lining to this immense cloud. Had Kerry won yesterday he would have had a difficult time dismantling this fascist and destructive framework that Bush has erected in the last three and a half years. With the Republican Congress strengthened, he would have been forced to compromise on some issues and build upon a faulty foundation. To build a truly strong and promising future, the Neoconservative architecture that has been erected must be completely razed, and therein lies the rub. While the situation will necessarily worsen in the next half-decade or so, I believe that this increases the chance that in the long term, the Bush policies will self-destruct (I can only hope that America doesn't go down with them), and if they persevere, progressives may be able to come out on the other side intact.
The near future will be a tough time for this country. The world will grow up around us. China's gross domestic product will surpass that of the United States by 2014¹. (According to the Employment Policy Foundation, it will be the first time since before WW I that the U.S. has not had the world's largest GDP.) As the U.S. divides itself between red and blue states, Europe will be drawing itself together. Already the E.U. is the world's largest exporter and controls the world's largest internal market. While the Neoconservatives ban stem cell research and their Evangelical constituency bans high school health textbooks mentioning condoms, Europeans have taken the lead in many industries including banking, aerospace, insurance, construction and chemicals². They will continue to advance.
When America finally sees the empty shell that is the house that Bush built, the pendulum will necessarily swing in the opposite direction, and a new foundation can be poured. Who knows? Maybe I can actually throw my wholehearted support behind the next Democratic presidential candidate.
I suppose my purpose in writing this was to convince progressives, myself included, not to lose heart. Slowly but surely, this country has historically crawled (at times it was dragged, kicking and screaming) towards the Left. Look at how the U.S. has changed over the last hundred years: the eight-hour workday; five-day work weeks; the abolition of child labor; Social Security and unemployment insurance; a graduated income tax; and suffrage for women. All these important reforms began the 20th century as planks of the 1908 Socialist Party platform, and were reviled by those in power. Sometimes we must take one step backward before we take two forward, just so we realize how bad the alternative can be. I’m hoping that in four years, we can progress forward again.
In the meantime, we should get some rest. Go on vacation. Acquire some perspective on life and get over our weltschmertz. Travel to another country and show the people we encounter that not all Americans are wearing blinders. Then come back and continue to fight: walk in protests, voice our dissent, tutor children, write letters to the editor of our local paper, and if we’re thinking about buying a new car, maybe we could consider a hybrid. Get involved and stay there. Think globally while acting locally. Most of all, we need to talk to Bush supporters. They’re not the enemy. Many of them are simply old-fashioned fiscal Republicans who don’t know that Neoconservative isn’t the same thing as Conservative; they aren’t aware that their party has been hijacked. A lot of them are still scared after 9/11 and they just don’t realize that, to paraphrase Thoreau, Bush is clipping at the branches of evil instead of hacking at the roots: rather than eliminating the causes of terrorism he’s fueling the fire. Which is, of course, exactly what the Neocons want: more fear, more military buildup, a bigger defense budget, and more wars to fight. It’ll take awhile, but the people will grow tired of it eventually. The storm clouds will clear. And then it will be our turn to take a few steps haltingly forward into the light, and start construction on the house of our dreams.
Xopher
“Hold on, be strong”. -- Outkast
¹ Based on purchasing power parity (PPP)
² According to Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, a Washington-based think tank.
