November 2004 Archives

Well, I thought of lots of blogs to post expressing my disappointment
with the election. The most depressing one would be to realize that my
son will be 4 years old before we can get change in this country, and
that Halliburton has a 4 year head start on stealing away his future.

I felt alienated (as so many people do that you've probably heard on TV
or talk radio) because all the states where I know anybody, or have any
chance of visiting the future, gave their electoral votes to Kerry.
That leads to jokes like this one: some people said the election makes
them want to leave the country. I'm not going anywhere, but let's just
move the borders:

http://mena.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/canada20.gif

But, if you want to think seriously about "healing" the divisions (and
if you have to live here for the foreseeable future, as we all do), you
need to know why and how we are so divided. How could they possibly
believe different realities than everyone I know? Calling them all
stupid doesn't get us anywhere.

This image is worth a million words:

http://www.wackyneighbor.com/images/us_by_population_density.jpg

it shows you that the 51% that voted for the Republicans isn't all
tucked away in the "heartland". It's all around you. They surround
you. The truth is that http://www.retrovsmetro.org/ Retro vs Metro
isn't about blue states versus red states; it's about urban areas
versus rural areas. Look at the strong Democrat support in Texas,
Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, even Wyoming. It's huddled around the
cities. (it's also more clear that Bush did not have strong support in
military communities).

I personally believe and hope that the Internet and the lightspeed
spread of digital information will bring freedom to places like China,
Iran, and Africa, as they learn what is available and communication
brings human equality. But in America, it seems to only divide us, as
the Retro vs Metro communities both listen only to the TV, radio, and
websites that reinforce the beliefs they already hold.