Postscript on an American Election
Published on November 3, 2004
"Postscript on an American Election"
by Robert Sachs
In the spring of 2004, I had a dream where I was with Senator John Kerry. He
had already won most the Democratic primaries as I had predicted. I wasn’t
particularly enamored with him as a candidate. It was just that he was the most
“presidential” of the pack.
In my dream I yelled to Senator Kerry that he was going to win in a landslide. He looked shocked by my bold exclamation and promptly exited my dream. When I awoke in the morning, I emailed the Kerry campaign and wrote, “Visualize Kerry in a Landslide.” It became a mantra on the internet and the newly formed Air America. As the election drew near and I listened to gleeful shouts of “Kerry in a Landslide,” I began to wonder. For in truth, every time my mouth tried to forcefully and with certainty proclaim these words, my gut tightened and I felt an aire of uncertainty close in around me. I’ve had prophetic dreams, but I’ve also had the usual and common flights of fantasy and unresolved emotional dreams. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference. My stomach tightening was telling me at a visceral level the true nature of my dream. But, I so wanted to believe…
It’s not that I believed that the victory of John Kerry was going to change
the political or social landscape all that dramatically. This I was willing
to concede. I did not see him unilaterally pulling out of Iraq like some of
my leftist and pacifist friends wanted. Clearly, in the quagmire that the neo-conservative
Bush administration created in Iraq, to do so would cause more harm than good.
I did not see him solving the outsourcing problem. As a capitalist economy with
global access, to think
that this trend won’t increase is naïve. I did not believe that whatever
health care reforms a Kerry administration was promising would really break
the backs of the pharmaceutical and insurance interests or provide better health
care. The allopathic medical model is just too flawed to begin with and nobody
in the dialogue on health care is seriously considering prevention. And, even
if Kerry was swept in, a House and Senate on the other side of the political
fence ensured gridlock.
But, what I was hoping for in this election was a change of heart in public
dialogue. I wanted to see an administration capable of explaining to people
in plain terms the complexities and inter-connectedness of the world we now
live in. I wanted to see more compassion, sensitivity, and thoughtfulness in
political and diplomatic discourse. I wanted to see an awareness of the light,
even if we could not raise ourselves out of the darkness of the times.
In uncertain times, a message that reminds people of their responsibility to those around them appeals far less than a message that tries to soothe the fear and despair in people’s hearts. Even though this administration had led the country into a war under false pretenses, even though the wealthy and corporate interests have been the only ones reaping the riches of a supposed economy on the mend, even though every campaign promise of 2000 was left behind untouched, George W. Bush’s message of “Stand with me” was what the majority of people in this country wanted to hear.
The media pundits called a vote for George W. Bush the “moral” vote.
Some went so far as to more clearly identify this group as evangelicals and
those leaning towards or being part of the religious right. In the light of
Kalachakra predictions of a western and eastern form of fundamentalism being
the source for 300 years of conflict, it would seem that even though this country
is clearly divided, the current administration will take their marginal victory
as an overwhelming mandate
and continue to pursue policies that will continue to force their will on the
world. And some in the world who feel that their way of life and beliefs are
being challenged and disregarded will push and fight back with whatever means
they have available. The US will blithely talk of collateral damage and bomb
from their air and in the safety of tanks in the name of “defending freedom,”
whilst accusing those who use the hand to hand and more personal tactics of
suicide bombings and beheadings as being nothing more than barbaric terrorists.
In the elections of 1800, it has been said that there were papers that warned that if Thomas Jefferson was elected, that God would be angry and that he would send a rain of fire down to destroy people’s homes. Jefferson won and it didn’t happen. Like the other founding fathers of this nation, Jefferson saw how people with limited access to education and simplistic belief systems could be easily manipulated. This is what had kept the pompous aristocracies of Europe in power for generations, which no doubt is why Jefferson once said, “We should hang the last king with the entrails of the last priest.” Of course, his real solution and the solution that the founding fathers agreed upon were far less radical – at least on the surface. Education, they said, was the key. An intelligent, informed electorate is the greatest insurance that there would be responsible government.
In 1996, my wife, I, and two of our children drove across America. Once off
the coast of California we saw the wide open corn fields, the feed lots, the
large crosses, and endless miles between urban centers. We drove into small
towns and mid-sized cities that had once been the teaming thoroughfares of commerce
and activity for miles around. Interstates and replaced the small state routes,
railroads, and transportation along the rivers. Agri-business had swallowed
up the small farms. For the most part we saw people who looked like shadows
of their former selves and the strapping farm people who once proudly inhabited
the plains. Rural
America is not thriving and the churches are the common places where people
get together to feel a sense of community and purpose. And, the plain spoken
commentary of a Fox media network and right wing and evangelical programming
and news is what they are fed day in and day out. In many respects, what they
are being educated with is not that dissimilar from the madrases of Pakistan
and the Middle East. That they voted the way they did in this election should
come as no surprise. And that those who live on the East or West coasts and
the more progressive cities of the Midwest should think that they would vote
differently because of the sheer volume of lies exposed over time lets me know
that in the end, such people who claim to be progressive do not fully comprehend
the power of fear and
ignorance. Then again, perhaps they just couldn’t imagine the magnitude
of the problem.
But now, stung twice, people are more awake. They are looking at local, national, and international issues with greater discernment. And they are more aware of power and how it is wielded. In truth, my biggest concern for this election was that if Kerry had actually won, even by the slightest of margins, many of those who fought for change would have gone back to sleep, lulled into the security of thinking that all would be made right. Of course, having lost, equally am I concerned that those who fought so hard will believe that all is lost and that there is no point in carrying on or become so bitter in their discourse as to become as vicious and dismissive as those whose tactics they denounced.
Like I have said, no effort is ever wasted. Dark Ages dissolve in the face
of awakening, just as the sun – that has always been there – gradually
begins to dissolve the clouds that obscure it. Hopefully, there are enough mature
souls who put their efforts into this four years who understand that the fight
that was waged for this one election is not nor could it ever change all of
the wrongs that we has humans have perpetrated against ourselves generation
after generation. Once aroused from our
slumber, once we have becoming sufficiently conscious and engaged, there is
no ethical or moral way to turn back, to turn a blind eye.
We now have more work to do. In fact, we have the same work to do – only with a greater sense of urgency.
The Buddha is still at war.
Robert Sachs is author of The Buddha at War: Peaceful Heart, Courageous Action in Uncertain Times. To order this e-book, email mandrsachs@earthlink.net or call 866-303-3321.
Copyright © 2004, Robert Sachs. All rights reserved.