hope

[piranha]

one of the things i've disliked most about the last 8 years is how far the general tenor of the party in charge of the US government has polarized the issues, and how far that has pushed me over to one side. i've taken that personally because it reminded me a lot of a relationship i had many years ago.

L was an aspiring law student when we met. bright, passionate, witty; we started to build an intense friendship. we talked about everything under the sun. it was intellectually very stimulating, probably one of the most interesting relationships i've ever had. except that, as time went on, i recognized that L wasn't so much discussing things as debating them. and then one day when i reflected on a discussion during which i had become more and more hostile for no apparent reason, and started to pull "facts" out of thin air to win... that day i realized that some discussions we had had were not good for me. they hadn't been an honest exchange of ideas and thoughts, because L was primarily trying to win. i felt like crap when i realized that my subconscious had already known that, and it had pushed me into a mode in which i fought back in a similar way because i felt like i was being steamrollered despite being fair and reasonable; like every time i gave an inch, i'd be pushed into giving 3 more, and if i gave those, then 5 more.

i am a consensus seeker in general. even during my relatively short activist period i was interested in finding common ground. and part of why my activism was of such short duration was because there was too much polarization -- i did much better working as part of a collective, like in local food co-ops and community gardens. but i am not a doormat, and i deeply resent when my thoughtfulness and nuanced thinking is derided as weakness.

these people make me hopeful that, should obama win the election, and behave in the white house the way he's behaved on the campaign trail, the polarization might start to reverse.

conservatives for change:

Comments

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

That's a really well-done video. It should really be broadcast.

[amagranz.livejournal.com]

There is, I believe, great reason for hope -- Obama is, above all things, a really wise and thoughtful man -- if you read what his conservative colleagues at the University of Chicago said about him, I think that shows that he will be able to stop the polarizing and bring us back.

Indeed, I am so impressed with Obama that I am actually doing something about it -- I happened to have free time, so I am in Indianapolis for these final weeks of the campaign, working on the campaign's data team. I've never volunteered for anything before, but this is something to see. 15-hour days with a MySQL book and spreadsheets on my laptop with every polling place and demographic group in Indiana, lots of kids in their late twenties who haven't slept properly in weeks, and everybody refreshing fivethirtyeight.com more often than we really need to. But if we can grab Indiana, we're home free...

obama

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

yeah, i feel that's true, that he's really not interested in polarizing people. i mean, bush "the uniter" tried to sell us that, but i never bought it from him, and it turned out to be a baldfaced lie. obama does seem to be more genuine about it.

oh, how exciting that you're working on the campaign! i envy you -- this is the first political campaign in decades where i've thought that if i still lived in the US, i'd be working for it, mostly because i can feel the inspiration and energy even from a distance.

that's in part what democracy is about; engaging people to want to be part of the political process. i don't like all of obama's policies, but
i definitely like -- and admire -- the way he has run his campaign, and how he's inspiring so many people from all walks of life to work together. i mean, if you've got racists voting for the n***er, that's pretty awesome. that distinction is pretty telling right there, the different tones of the campaign, and how obama's appeals to the best in people and mccain's to the worst.

*heh* about 538. me too. 3/4 of my browser windows are now political sites. i'll be watching indiana on election night and hope it'll be too close to call (i dare not hope it'll be won early on; that would be too amazing).

collaborative, not competitive

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

Good video, but I am so totally with you about disliking people who are all about the personal debating victory and not the big-picture collective good.