Sunday, October 28, 2012

After the Election

Don't Mourn, Organize poster with image of Joe Hill
One of the best parts of Cloud Atlas happens near the end of the movie. It takes place in 1849, when one character belittles another character's decision to go East to join the Abolitionist movement.

The belittler says (I'm paraphrasing), "Things will never change. Your dreams are ridiculous." We, as an audience, know that things did change just a bit over a decade later.

This piece by Robert Reich is a bit like that moment.

I think after Obama was elected in 2008, we all sat back a bit too much, waiting for the magic to happen. And what happened instead was the Tea Party (backed by big corporate and right-wing money). If we want 2012 to be any different, it has to come from us because it's not going to come from Washington no matter who's in the White House.

Not that it doesn't matter who's in the White House -- it's just that it's not enough.

2 comments:

Michael Leddy said...

Thanks for that link. I hope that those who have opted out will reconsider after reading.

Unfortunately, Reich’s advice to vote for every Democrat does not apply everywhere: the Democratic candidate for the House in my district is a stealth candidate, a far-right zealot who somehow got on the ballot in the absence of a legitimate candidate. It’s a Republican district, and no legitimate candidate was willing to run.

Gina said...

So very, very true, Pat. You've said it well. I hear people complain that in their world nothing has changed and it's all Obama's fault. Well, what control did Obama have over THEIR world? For what was on his own plate, Obama did a good job dealing with it all. He put individuals to shame because they didn't take care of business in their world.

Now, about the job market....