Tuesday, November 05, 2024
What's that phrase that's been attributed to the Harris campaign? It's something like but not exactly "Cautiously Optimistic," and I'm feeling that way regardless of how It all plays out. Riding out this election has been challenging while maintaining a StoZenDao perspective. Emotions kick in, and the ego engages. Jen and I have been talking recently about how people respond to fear and threats, to optimism and community. Mix in idology and triablism and US becomes "Us and Them". Cue Rodger Waters. "With.... without... and who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about". I remember both the intensity of optimism I felt the day Obama was elected, and the angst I felt 8 years later when the pendulum swung the other way. I do anticipate that change, positive change, change leading our collective consious awaerenes of our collective connection as one species, will continue to increase over time. I also recognize that it's never going to be a straight line. Tiides rose and fell for centuries to create shorelines that at one point did not exist. History includes exhaustive examples of cultural and social change. Mistakes become lessons. Costly at time. I sincerely feel that voting should not be a birthright without baseline education and testing that shows a clear understanding of the functions of the three branches of government, the distinctions between national and state-based governance, and, for all of our sakes, knowledge of the current and historical workings of socialism, communism, fascism, nationalism, and democracy. Myself included.