"Fear the Future Overload"
October 29, 2004
By Marc Pezzell
Hello all. It’s been a while since I’ve written in. It almost went on
longer, but for an important event that is about to occur. The 2004
presidential election. I won’t sit here and go over all the facts and pieces of
information about any of the candidates, especially the two big ones, John Kerry
and George Bush. I will deal only with larger pictures. First, let me say
that, as a rule, I am very politically involved, at least mentally. I read
articles. I read books. I talk to people. Overall, I never pass up an
opportunity to fill my head with a wide variety of what I consider to be
important information regarding politics, the state of the country, the state of
the world, and the state, or fate, or humanity. This has been true for quite
some time now. This has been especially true over the past four years. After
all, the appointment of George W. Bush to the presidency has given all of us
much to talk about, such as the theft of an election, the end of our democracy,
the gradual, or not so gradual, disintegration of our country, etc., etc., etc.
My Goodness, this man, and all of his cohorts, have certainly given us some very
interesting times, haven’t they? Well, somewhere between all of the
accusations, all of the stories, all of the tempers, and all conspiracy
theories, whether rational or not, I have simply blown a fuse. In fact, whereas
I have formally never passed up an opportunity to read yet one more email,
article, etc., etc. on the political state of affairs, I have now, very recently
sought to avoid them. On some level, I still try to look at all the information
that I can. However, I have been largely unable to do this, as of late. The
reason? I just can’t take it anymore. I fear the future and I have reached an
overload.
What do I mean by this? Simply, there is only so much a person can take. I
see the United States of America and I see a dream of so much potential that I
could just weep thinking about it. However, when I see the direction that this
country is taking, I weep just thinking about it. Every event, every law, every
decision. I take it all in and I am just sick over it. I am just sick that
this country makes an obsessive habit of going further and further off course
from where it should be.
I cannot help but fear the future. The countdown has begun. Just a few
days left now before one of the most important decision in our nation’s history
has to be made. Never before, not since the War between the States, has this
country been so divided, so “polarized”. The fever is here and it is running
hot.
So what about this decision? Is it about good and evil? Right and wrong?
Or is it “Tweedle dee” and “Tweedle dumb”? Now, let me get this across. I am a
Democrat. I used to be proud of it. However, I am not so impressed with John
Kerry, really. He’s mediocre at best. I’m not convinced that he really is as
good as he could be to be a good leader for our country. In my opinion, he says
what he thinks the American people want to hear. I don’t hear any major leaps
of innovation or imagination coming from him. In essence, if we elect him, we
will probably get more of the same that we have always been getting over the
past several decades. By this, I mean that nothing will really change for the
better. Not in a long term, meaningful way. Not on a large scale. Not
really. Not by looking at the big picture. We will still have a monstrously
over inflated military budget. We will still have a sickening auto dependent
transportation system. We will still be polluting the environment at an
alarming rate. We will still overpopulate the country and the world, further
and further. We will still have an education system that falls pathetically
short of where it should be. We will still have a destructive and deadly “war
on drugs”. We will still have too many cities without viable, livable,
walkable, and functioning urban centers. Overall, he could be a lot better.
I will say this, however. John Kerry is far from alone in not coming up
with any real solid and meaty ideas to benefit our future, to enact real,
lasting, positive changes. Of course, who can blame him? If he does have any
real innovative ideas and I mean something that far surpasses the puny tidbits
we have been thrown, the populace is liable to do something really stupid, such
as voting for “W”. Also, he is less vague than G.W.B. and at least John Kerry
seems capable of listening to the needs of the American people. At least his
intelligence is comparable to what most would consider acceptable. At least he
mentioned the problem of the outsourcing of America’s jobs. His answer to that
problem wasn’t quite to my satisfaction, but at least his idea is something. He
at least understands that we find ourselves in an unnecessary war, or one sided
massacre, occupation, etc., in Iraq. He didn’t give an answer to my
satisfaction to that problem either, but at least he understands something about
the problem. Gosh! This is terrible! I find myself rooting for a candidate
whose best attributes are that at least a few small bells are going off! Well,
he sure beats the alternative, however.
Now that I’ve said all of that, let’s look at that alternative, George W.
Bush, pretender to the presidency and incompetent extraordinaire. There is so
much that I could say about this one, but I promised to lay off all the details
and get on with the larger picture. Okay. Fine. When I think of him, I fear
the future. I fear that our economy will tank further as more jobs are
outsourced. I fear that we will continue to chase bogeymen throughout the world
in the name of the “War on Terror”, meanwhile bombing more innocent people,
getting our own troops killed, and insidiously filling the coffers of his rich
buddies by draining the U.S. Treasury. I fear that, despite evidence to the
contrary, we will have a draft, finding our sons and daughters conscripted for
military service. I fear that we will become yet more dependent on petroleum to
drive a doomed transportation system. I fear that the corporate oligarchy will
become even more powerful than it already is, making an even bigger mockery of
our so called democracy than it already has. I fear that we will soon become a
nation of a few of the extremely wealthy presiding over the masses of minimum
wage “fodder”. I fear that the United States of America will become a
backwater, intellectually and culturally devoid, soon on an even keel with many
third world nations, albeit with a huge military. I fear that the woman’s right
to choose will be lost. I fear that the gains made in tolerance and women’s
rights will be set back to the 19th century. I fear that our civil liberties
will become more and more eroded. I fear that our education system will be
completely “left behind”. I fear that our environment will be destroyed. I
fear that future. I fear George W. Bush. I fear those that whisper in his
ear. I fear those to whom he is beholden. I fear the world my children will
grow up in. I fear the world I will grow old in, if I grow old.
If we go down that path, I would consider washing my hands of the whole
stinking mess and leave the country, perhaps going to Canada or Australia.
However, there are a few problems with that. Inherently, I can’t stand the idea
of running out in the middle of a battle, and if “W” gets elected, we will
become more embattled, as a nation, than ever in recent times. Also, this
country needs people that are sick of it. If all the malcontents leave, then
who will stay and fight for positive change? I’m not necessarily tooting my own
horn here. I’m talking to all of those heroes that are out there, far braver
than I will ever be, who must choose to either get out of here or stay and try
to make a difference. Lastly, I wouldn’t give this corporate oligarchy of ours
the satisfaction.
I know what many will say. “If I’m so dissatisfied with the two major party
candidates, why don’t I vote for a third party candidate?” Well, I would
absolutely love to, but by doing so, I will probably indirectly be voting for
Bush. At least, that’s what would happen with our present mockery of a voting
system. Instant runoff voting, anyone? That’s an innovative idea! I won’t
hold my breath on that one, however. After all, it would be too beneficial for
our country and we, obviously, can’t have any of that nonsense, can we?
I’m afraid that America will make the wrong choice on November 2nd. It
looks like a 50/50 chance. If we vote for John Kerry, we might, at least, have
a fighting chance to do something good for our country, ourselves, and our
world. If we vote for George W. Bush, we will likely see some very nasty
problems become substantially worse. It could go either way. Of course, I fear
another voting debacle, rigging, tampering, etc. Have we become wiser in the
past four years? In a few days, we will find out. In the meantime, I’m already
fearful enough, without reading another article, another book, or listening to
another story about the state of political affairs. I’ll tune in on election
night, but until then, I think that I will pass on this whole mess for a few
days.
I am grateful for one silly thing. The days preceding the election are
taken up by thoughts of Halloween, my favorite holiday, and a welcome
diversion. This way, I can focus on the far less scary concepts of ghosts,
vampires, demons, and other assorted monsters. The alternative is thinking
about the monsters in the real world, and they are far more frightening.