2008 Woodie Awards
Let us vote for change in 2008 by voting for Obama and against fear
Anders Christian Beal
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Soap Box
To call Sen. Obama an elitist is to degrade a man that represents more than the status quo. It is a degradation based on ignorance, a lack of information and perhaps an unwillingness to search beyond sensationalized news reports that mislead us. The truth is that this man can and will represent not only "the working-class whites," but also the majority of us that seek change.
When the cost to run for U.S. Senate amounts to millions of dollars and when lobbyists or special interest groups have more of an influence on our republic than its citizens do, something is wrong with our political process. When the gains of the average citizen are dependent upon massive gains by a small percentage of the population, something needs to be changed. Endorsing McCain or Clinton would diffuse these themes within our government. They represent not the majority of citizens that lack jobs, healthcare and education, but they preserve the consistency of corporate power within the U.S. and abroad.
What is happening within our country is a polarization of politics. We have come a long way from the times of Hamilton and Jefferson debating their ideologies. Instead, the foci we accept - the mind-numbing, insistent tragedies that plague us - are the meanderings of judgment not based on political ideology, but on our individual associations with someone perhaps considered "subversive" or as we describe them in today's political language, "controversial."
What we lose sight of is an idea - an ideology that is perhaps different from the mainstream views and our own. Rather than debate issues that desperately need solutions, we invoke a fear of politics and an acceptance to be forever apolitical. It is much easier to debate the reasons why one would not wear a U.S. flag pin on his or her lapel than it is to debate more serious issues, such as our occupation of Iraq. Can we as citizens handle this?
The answer seems to be that we cannot. Perhaps fear has obtained such a hold on our psyche that we remain silent and resist anyone or anything that does not fit what we have been socialized to believe. We are unable to discuss politics. It has become taboo just like talking about our sexuality. What would a student in high school gain from asking a history teacher questions about U.S. intervention in Latin America? Why is it that social problems persist without resolutions?
When the cost to run for U.S. Senate amounts to millions of dollars and when lobbyists or special interest groups have more of an influence on our republic than its citizens do, something is wrong with our political process. When the gains of the average citizen are dependent upon massive gains by a small percentage of the population, something needs to be changed. Endorsing McCain or Clinton would diffuse these themes within our government. They represent not the majority of citizens that lack jobs, healthcare and education, but they preserve the consistency of corporate power within the U.S. and abroad.
What is happening within our country is a polarization of politics. We have come a long way from the times of Hamilton and Jefferson debating their ideologies. Instead, the foci we accept - the mind-numbing, insistent tragedies that plague us - are the meanderings of judgment not based on political ideology, but on our individual associations with someone perhaps considered "subversive" or as we describe them in today's political language, "controversial."
What we lose sight of is an idea - an ideology that is perhaps different from the mainstream views and our own. Rather than debate issues that desperately need solutions, we invoke a fear of politics and an acceptance to be forever apolitical. It is much easier to debate the reasons why one would not wear a U.S. flag pin on his or her lapel than it is to debate more serious issues, such as our occupation of Iraq. Can we as citizens handle this?
The answer seems to be that we cannot. Perhaps fear has obtained such a hold on our psyche that we remain silent and resist anyone or anything that does not fit what we have been socialized to believe. We are unable to discuss politics. It has become taboo just like talking about our sexuality. What would a student in high school gain from asking a history teacher questions about U.S. intervention in Latin America? Why is it that social problems persist without resolutions?
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