Where the Fnords Linger

The Darkness and the Light- Election Day 2008 in America

The election went down- the most historic electoral event of my lifetime. Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.

Like millions of others, I don’t know what the future brings. But, for the first time in eight very long, very hard to deal with years- I feel hope.

I listened to a woman talking today at my job- I work in a hospital- she was talking about the difference between hopes and wishes.

Her name is Dr. Dr. works with the parents of dying children. She told the story of a girl in a wheelchair- dying of cancer- eight days after this conversation, the girl was dead.

As part of her research, Dr. asked the girl, “What are you hoping for?”

The girl answered, “I’m hoping I’ll get up and I’ll be able to dance around, that my legs will carry me again and I’ll be able to fly through the air like a bird. All my friends and family will be able to sit in a theatre and watch me while I dance good enough to make Baryshnikov blush.”

The girl stopped. She considered for a moment. She said. “You know what, that’s not what I hope. That’s what I wish. There’s a difference you know. A wish is something I want to happen that’s impossible in the world as it is.”

She paused, and then continued, “In the world as it is… I’m going to die. But in the world as it could be- I can dance- my legs are strong- I’m going to get better. But that’s just a wish. What I hope for- what I think is possible- in the world as it is- is that I will feel less pain and be able to sleep better.”

Hope and wishes are different. Hope is real, wishes are not. You hope for things in the world as it is. Wishes require the world to become something new.

That’s the truly astounding thing about democracy- what makes it the greatest system humans have yet invented to govern themselves.

With a single collective action we turned a wish into a hope- a political alchemy of the most profound sort. With a single ballot we turned our backs on the past 8 years and as President Elect Obama said in his nomination speech, “Enough.”

We really are incredibly lucky to have such an opportunity. Literally billions have died without it over the years.

We could say, we demand an end to the Iraq war. We want tax relief to someone who isn’t rich or have Inc. at the end of their name. How about some Supreme Court nominees who’ve actually read the Constitution, or at least care what it says.

Before November 4th- these things were wishes. The world where they happened was impossible. Universal healthcare was as likely during the Bush administration as the Banks being able to regulate themselves without causing an economic meltdown. Or leprechauns.

But now, just like that, because of the mysterious brilliance of the simple collective will of a people, these impossible things, these wishes, are hopes again. I suddenly live in a world where my country doesn’t believe in wars without cause- or torture- or extreme rendition- or the philosophy that says the rich should see all of the spoils for the simple act of being rich. I live in America again, a place I can hope. And it’s all because of democracy.

But all things have a flipside- the Tao shows us that. Things are dual natured. Even democracy. Even wishes and hopes.

Because on the same day we did this wonderful thing, electing Barack Obama, in that same breath in the state of California- a single vote turned a hope back into a wish for an entire group of people. Like Cinderella at midnight, the protection of equal rights for homosexuals turned back into a pumpkin. People who were married- married- legally- in front of a justice of the peace. Now, magically, these people are no longer married. Human beings choosing to dedicate their lives to each other are banned because people think it’s icky or because they think it’s a sin. It’s disgusting. And yet, it too is democracy.

All of the rights that go along with marriage- stolen- mostly because of Mormon carpetbaggers and people who think the earth is 6,000 years old. While one wound healed, we tore one open a new one, fresh. Banning a right you’ve not yet granted is appalling enough (as they did – banning gay marriage in 2 other states), but giving a right, and then taking it away- that’s almost worse. That’s coldness and cynicism on a level even I, a cynical person, can only look at with utter astonishment.

There is no doubt in my mind in 20 years, maybe more, hopefully much less, society will look at what happened in California in horror. And there’s also no doubt in my mind some new group of people will be the new boogeyman- the new thing for the fearful to see going bump in the night. It seems there’s a never ending supply of things to be afraid of- but

But, as long as democracy keeps working, it means we’ll get another chance next time. Society will have time to heal, and to learn, and there will be another vote. Let’s not take 300 years this time though, okay?