Sunday, November 09, 2008
America (not democracy...yet) 2.0
So what does the election of Barack Obama really mean?
What it means is that America has finally turned another one the ugly pages of its history to move forward. Our nation can at long last say that just as gender discrimination before it, race discrimination is seeing its last few days.
It also means that neighborhoods, cities and regions which have traditionally argued that success for its inhabitants was simply 'not possible, not realistic' can no longer credibly do so. The humiliation, the hurt and yes the anger of generations gone by can (and should, and must) be offset by the ambition and enthusiasm of tomorrow's generations.
D.2.0 is encouraged but by no means surprised at the election's outcome. It was foreseeable and attributable based on fairly obvious signs:
The political pendulum has swung back, just as it has with near clock-like accuracy since the 1960s. Let us all hope that the Democrats avoid mistakes made by the Republicans. Let us hope that they seek to move the country forward with a centrist agenda, with measured dialogue and pragmatic decisions based on objective information.
D.2.O is indeed encouraged. Note the left-hand pane of this blog, called D.2.O Faves, has displayed many of the names who were integral to this election cycle all the way back to this blog's inception (back in August 2005).
Was D.2.0 on to something?
What it means is that America has finally turned another one the ugly pages of its history to move forward. Our nation can at long last say that just as gender discrimination before it, race discrimination is seeing its last few days.
It also means that neighborhoods, cities and regions which have traditionally argued that success for its inhabitants was simply 'not possible, not realistic' can no longer credibly do so. The humiliation, the hurt and yes the anger of generations gone by can (and should, and must) be offset by the ambition and enthusiasm of tomorrow's generations.
D.2.0 is encouraged but by no means surprised at the election's outcome. It was foreseeable and attributable based on fairly obvious signs:
- presidential approval ratings at record-lows
- right-track/wrong-track numbers at record-lows
- party registration and fund-raising statistics dramatically lopsided
- an unpopular war
- a once-in-a-lifetime financial crisis
The political pendulum has swung back, just as it has with near clock-like accuracy since the 1960s. Let us all hope that the Democrats avoid mistakes made by the Republicans. Let us hope that they seek to move the country forward with a centrist agenda, with measured dialogue and pragmatic decisions based on objective information.
D.2.O is indeed encouraged. Note the left-hand pane of this blog, called D.2.O Faves, has displayed many of the names who were integral to this election cycle all the way back to this blog's inception (back in August 2005).
Was D.2.0 on to something?
