Midterm madness ends today (in theory). The 112th Congress will take office in 2011 and the next national election is in 2012 - the year of transformation according to legend. Will it be? It just may. No matter what the results of this election, the U.S. must accept some serious realities...and despite the rhetoric of an intensely negative political battle...change has come.
It was inevitable. Demographically...globally...realistically.
With each generation, ideals shift. The manifestation of generations of multicultural history has now come to fruition, despite a dominant narrative that tried to deny that reality (read Takaki). A global village is now the moving object that proves laws of physics correct once again, and can not be stopped now even by the greatest levels of fear and anxiety.
Times are a changin'...they always do.
But this change will be transformative...and like seismic transformative change that has come before, it will come with great strife and growing pains. Many resist change. Many fear change. Many will fight it to the death. I hope folks are ready. This is why I have focused most of my writings over the past 2 years on mass organizing and warning against petty political distractions instigated from the left and right.
So, I don't know for sure what will happen today, but I have revisited some past essays and recent videos to create a narrative that highlights the stakes.
1. If the backlash to 2008 "change" occurs, this will be a pull back to more entrenched status quo interests and even more regressive politics as Olbermann highlights here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39875964/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39959257#39959257
This will also not change the economic reality of this country.
2. If the Democrats fair better than the media has framed this story, it may be a testament to the following:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39959392#39959392
and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgSNXf4p-tI
it may be that everyday folks are starting to see the bigger picture - while politicians are often bought and sold by monied interest in politics, the true threat to our democracy is not "big" government but corporate fascism.
On the flip side, it will actually incite fear in the right even more and possibly bring the time of reckoning closer (The Fire Next Time).
So while I can't predict the results of this election, I can say this country is transforming ...and while it may not feel like it now, it will be for the better.
I honestly believe that if we all focused more on action over debate, and service over leadership and politics, we would not only see the changes we want to see in our world, we would be it.
From 2007 to 2012....The Narrative:
The Fire This Time
WARGAMES - The Fall of Empire
“Where the Ball is, the Game is”
The Miseducation of a Nation: Unveiling the Illusion of History
Dis'United States of America: The Red, White, Blue...and above all Green
The Burden...and Freedom...of Reality
2010: A New Year, A New Decade...Time to Try Anew
White Supremacy from Bacon to Obama: Are We Finally at the Moment of Reckoning?
Powerful People v. People Power: The 21st Century Edition
