Why am I so fascinated by election campaigning in the US and the imminent election? Partly it is a function of not having much to do at work at the moment and so being free to surf the news sites. But my free time could be spent checking the latest nba scores or checking out the surf report. There's something so addictive though about the election-related output of the 24/7 news machine. Partly it's because the contest itself is so fascinating. The brash, impulsive ageing ex-navy captain, versus the steady, smooth first term senator makes for a vivid set of contrasts. The awesome scale of investment in proceedings, combined with the continual scrambling for the iconic image, pithy line, or damning bit of evidence make for an endless and gripping narrative. To more clearly express my bias I would further describe the contest as between a candidate who is truly inspiring and one who represents much of what has been wrong about US politics for the past 8 years. Oops, there I go regurgitating one of the key concepts in the Obama campaign - that McCain represents the same economic and other policies as the Bush administration. I'm not even American, and have never put foot on the continent, but I find myself desperately hoping that the American people do not choose someone who may continue in the same vein things have been going for what seems like an eternity. My fascination with the events unfolding must have something to do with the way the world is so inter-connected, as cliched as that sounds. I feel invested in the outcome because I know that America's future is in a way my future, our future. Perhaps it was my introduction to and love for science fiction from a young age that has implanted in me a desire for us humans to live, to survive, to persist - and to do so for a long, long time, preferably till the end of time. I think that is one of the most basic instincts a person can have, and it may seem hackneyed but for the frequency I hear people say things like, "people will die out, just like every dominant species has done so before", or "there's no chance mankind will survive, we will either use up all our resources or kill each other". Hey, what happened to some good, old fashioned American-style positive thinking? I want us to be whizzing around in space ships ala "Star Trek" come the year AD 4522. Why not? I fully believe that's possible. All we need is to master nuclear fusion and we're golden, right? My sense is that, for that vision of a technologically powerful race bravely venturing out into the universe to have a decent shot at coming to fruition, we need to get through this tricky period right now. Sure, there will be delicate times in the future, but this is the most delicate time we have yet encountered, and how we deal with it may determine whether we ever make it to alpha minor, or explore the Milky Way.
Let me explain how all this relates to the US election. War: a McCain presidency is more likely to encourage antagonism towards the US internationally which could spark conflict on a bigger scale than that which is currently waged. An Obama presidency could help to both defuse current conflicts and tone down war-like rhetoric generally. The Environment and International Cooperation: surely the most pressing issues facing the world right now are the interrelated concerns of dwindling resources and the environmental problems which accompany such resource use. For us to make the transition to a post-oil, and then post-fossil fuel system, requires clear thinking, forward planning, massive amounts of investment, and cooperation between nations. An America under clear thinking leadership which recognises the shared destiny of the world's various nations, is more likely to facilitate the meeting of these challenges, instead of stymieing them through a short-sighted scramble to preserve the SUV-driving, criminally wasteful lifestyle many people have become used to.
There is also something harder to define at issue here. It is something to do with the collective imagination of people. As we spin through space on this shimmering orb, so we steadily cover its surface with all manner of edifices, and fill our minds and societies with all manner of beliefs and rules. That is a flexible set of things, it can be moulded and every change reverberates through time. Wouldn't an Obama presidency reverberate through time a whole lot better than a McCain/Palin presidency? I see fields of green... and a red spaceship or two...
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