The Iron Yuppie

Well the election results are in, and for those of you who have been in a cave on Mars with your fingers in your ears singing “la-la-la”, Bush won with a large margin in both the electoral and the popular vote (which is nicer than last time).

However, I find myself just very very sad about the whole thing. Though you might think my mood is dour about the supreme court justices who are going to be appointed (I believe the trend towards injecting religious morality into law is a mistake), to the damage to the environment which will be caused (Bush is someone who will trade the health of the environment for jobs and business) to the massive fiscal deficits we’ll have when they finish their term, I actually think these are sub-components of my sadness.

The thing I’m the most sad about is that I now live in a country where it is very obvious that I am not only am I in the minority, but 51% of the people who vote here have a significantly different view of what America should be and how a citizen should behave. I do not denounce their views at all; as I have tried to say many times on this blog, people have every right to their opinions and ways that they want to live. The thing that is the most unsettling to me is, if I understand their points of view correctly, they believe their ways of living should be enforced by the government both here and abroad. Gay marriage, abortion, foreign policy, etc all seem to be guided by a thought that “I believe this way so you should believe this way too” which ultimately does not lead to peace, it leads to war. Anyhow, it’s a startling revelation that so much of the country does not agree with one of my core beliefs and this election clearly said to me that it was not because the majority of people were duped, or did not decide to vote or they were disenfranchised, it is because they actually believe that. I’m not one of those “fine, America, you got what you wanted, now choke on it” people (of which the blogsphere is packed); I think 51% of this country is going to get exactly what they wanted and they are going to really enjoy the next four years. What I’m worried about is how that will affect the next 40.


D