[ z ē ' n ĭ t h ] -noun 1. an arch wherethrough gleams that untraveled world…I Must Be Missing The Point
By David Harris • Oct 6th, 2008 • Category: Outside the Ballot BoxI can’t have a political discussion with anyone anymore. It seems, recently, that anytime I open my mouth to talk about the different things that I want to see changed (or stay the same) in the United States, I’m immediately bombarded with John McCain/Republican this or Barack Obama/Democrat that. I wonder when it was that we as a country began allowing ourselves to be defined by our political parties and our leaders rather than by the principles and ideals which we hold so dear. Barack Obama has achieved a momentous milestone by even being the first non-white person to receive a major party’s nomination for president. Unfortunately, the very partisanship that his candidacy represents is the very reason I can’t vote for him. It’s the same reason I can’t vote for John McCain.
I want something different.
The United States of America is teetering on the precipice of what may very well come to be defined as the turning point in our nation’s history. Throughout our short history, we’ve had three, and I think we’re coming up on a fourth. First, the American Revolution, which established the state proper. Second, the American Civil War, which said once and for all that the United States is a truly united country, no matter what or how severe our differences between each other may be. The third was the second world war, in which we established ourselves as a world power, and the emergent leader in global politics and economics. The obvious common thread of the last two and a half centuries has been that the United States has been a country that identifies itself at the end of a war, not at the beginning or in the middle. The war itself is what begins the purification process, but it is the time period after the war is over that shows who we really are.
Our time for war in the 21st century is over. No more ‘war on terrorism,’ ‘war on drugs,’ ‘war on… whatever it is that’s unpopular right now.’
As a nation we need to step up and represent change to the rest of the world. We need to stand up and say that we are willing to work, as we’ve always done, for a better world and a better way of life, not just for the citizens of our country, but for the world, of which we inextricably connected. The status quo of the Democratic and Republican parties are not going to get us there. Their very existence, and the dualistic strife that they represent, is a picture, not of unity in the face of differences, but of discord in the face of uniformity. The differences between the two parties are slight, overall. The ‘big picture’ is that government is not going to change all that much regardless of who gets elected into office, unless that person is free from ‘entangling political alliances.’
The time is coming very soon when we, as responsible participants in a free, democratic process, are going to need to wake up, shake the sleep from our eyes, and figure out what’s going on in the world, beyond what we’re told by the media and our favorite political fan-club (read: party). The United States is not going to reestablish its role as a respected global leader until we have a leadership base that represents not the interests of two power-hungry political parties, but rather the interests of the people of the United States.
Register ‘unaffiliated.’ Make your own decisions.
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I always wonder what makes americans so damn sure they ever were “respected global leaders.” For some odd reason people in the United States have reached the conclusion that foreign antipathy is a recent thing and it isn’t. That same media you criticise for giving half the picture now was giving just as small a picture fifty years ago when the US did nothing but pat itself on the back.
The idea that the United States has ever been a global political leader is an idea found in the United States alone.
I remember learning that before World War II, the United States was pretty much an isolationist nation, having nothing to do with the rest of the world. Then suddenly we figured we could control the entire thing without any problems. I’ve heard both candidates in this election say that the United States is the greatest nation on the planet and we need to make the rest of the world believe it “again”, but I really think that that kind of thinking will only bring about more arrogance and diplomatic problems. I think that it’s time America got over itself, in short, and left the ego at the door.
That said, I would like to be able to tell someone from Europe that I’m American without having to immediately punctuate it with some statement of realized shame or embarrassment. It’d be nice to one day not be ashamed of this country’s government and largely ignorant public.
And as far as the bipartisanship goes, I would really like to see the situation brought to the supreme court, if that’s at all realistic. A two-party system absolutely cannot work, and the Democrats need to be shattered into multiple smaller parties, as do the Republicans. Then again I’d also like to have a second Constitutional Congress, considering Benjamin Franklin wanted one ever… ten years? fifty years? I can’t remember which, but it’s been well over two hundred now and our constitution hasn’t changed, save for the ammendments. The problem is, if anyone actually brought this up in a congressional setting, they’d be laughed out of office by their peers.
Owen, while I understand that certainly there were those who distrusted or didn’t like the US prior to the beginning of this century, there can be no denying that following World War II, the US government was perceived as a leader in moving the world forward. Economically, militarily, and ideologically, until the 90s, the United States was respected by the citizens of most developed countries around the world. I do not believe the United States to be, in any way, the savior of the world, or the greatest thing that ever happened to it, but I do think that we need to do what we can to improve our image around the world.
No, there can be denying it because it’s categorically not true. The United States has NEVER had the respect of the world, its actions after World War II were largely considered selfish and paranoid. But then, I suppose you only know the story where America pats the world on the back and hands it a tissue.
America’s handling of WWII cleanup? The Cold War? Vietnam?
All things that gave America a bad name internationally, when did they happen? Just after World War II.
If you want to believe that the United States was loved and adored in a happy twinkly world for the last three hundred years then you can but don’t pretend there’s any real evidence for it.