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It is hard to believe, but once again we in the
United States are in the midst of another presidential
campaign. Though it seems to be happening earlier
than usual this time around, it appears to be moving
at high speed. The election is still a year and
a half away and already there are full-scale debates
among the candidates. It hit me the other week
when I turned on the television and there it was,
two evenings of watching all of those people vying
to be their party’s candidate. At this time
more than at any other in my memory, the country
appears to be eager to get someone else in office,
to have a new beginning. And yet with all of this
anticipation I can’t generate any excitement
about any of the individuals running.
While I have never been one to shy away from getting
caught up in an electoral contest, I find myself
approaching each one (and this will be the ninth
I will be able to vote in) with less and less enthusiasm.
I am aware that there are some that are energized
by one or two of the candidates and perhaps I have
become jaded. Among those candidates that I could
possibly vote for, none stand out in any meaningful
way. My lack of enthusiasm (and optimism) is due
in part to the experience that even when the Democratic
candidate does win, he or she can be expected to
fall in line with the prevailing orthodoxy and
follow in line with the policies set by those administrations
that came before. Even though the Bush administration’s
policies have moved away from any reasonable course,
misguided and disastrous as they may be they are
not without precedent in the history of this nation.
Among our possible future presidents are there
really any that are going to provide the visionary
leadership that the nation needs?
This problem comes across on a number of issues,
but it stands out most glaringly when it comes
to how this nation carries out its policies concerning
war and peace. The only real opposition to the
war in Iraq came not from our elected representatives
(with a few exceptions) but from the people of
this nation willing to take to the streets and
let the government know that they did not accept
the lies and exaggerations that led to the troops
being sent into combat. However no matter how the
nation was led to war and regardless of how much
longer the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
will drag on, we as a nation have been at war in
one form or another throughout most of our life
times. Among the different forms war takes is the
direct use of troops in combat or the supplying
of weapons and training to other nations or groups
engaged in combat against other nations, their
own governments or their own people. There are
many justifications that have been employed to
explain why each military action needs to happen,
be it humanitarian intervention, preventing further
violence or responding to a real or perceived threat.
Can there be times when force is necessary, when
force is needed to bring an end to savage violence?
Strong arguments can be made, some of which I do
not disregard, but it is never easy and it is always
messy. There are no easy answers and no matter
what the reason, people end up dying, resources
are consumed, societies are devastated and the
cycle of violence is continued. To what extent
can we expect any of the candidates to provide
the leadership to discover alternative paths to
resolving conflict and finding creative ways to
deal with the threats that we must face?
Thinking about this as I wrote this essay brought
to mind a conversation I had over dinner recently.
For some reason that I cannot remember, my companions
and I were having a discussion about the existence
of God. I generally avoid this particular type
of conversation. I decided to play devil’s
advocate and respond to the arguments being to
show that God definitely did not exist. After this
conversation was going on for a bit of time, the
person making the arguments looked up at me and
said with firm conviction, “OK, if God does
exist why is there war? How could any supreme being
allow such death and destruction?” Surprisingly
it did not take me long to reply. I said that God
did not micro-manage. She gave us free will and
it is up to us whether we continue to go on destroying
one another. This actually fell in line with my
general beliefs about the existence of God. I have
no idea about whether God exists or not. All I
know is that we are all living here together on
this planet, and it is up to all of us to figure
out how we can work things out and find ways to
resolve our conflicts without blowing each other
up. If God does exist, she has given us the resources
to work things out and is leaving it up to us.
Ultimately, no one else can solve our problems
for us – we as a people, as a species, need
to take responsibility.
It is with this same sense of responsibility that
we should approach the presidential election and
the candidates trying to convince us that we should
vote for them. If one believes that this nation
needs to change direction and bring an end to the
ongoing wars, redirect the focus on fighting terrorism,
focus on bringing peace to the middle east and
bring US foreign policy back in line with the international
regimes that this nation worked to create – voting
is not enough. There is no one candidate we can
expect to do this for us. Granted they will have
the power, but having the power and the willingness
to use it to bring about significant change is
another thing all together. What is needed is for
people themselves (you and I) to have the vision
and to bring it to life by making sure to raise
up our voices, to write letters, to go on marches,
to support grassroots organizations working to
raise consciousness, and to let our public officials
know that anything else is unacceptable. We cannot
simply wait for the candidates to lead us. It really
does come down to each of us, to each one of us
to take that responsibility, to be willing to act
in the ways we know we can and that we only imagined,
and to be willing to show those we have trusted
with running our government the way we need to
go.
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