Voting For the Lesser of Two Evils

I know that there is a great excitement going on across the country. This very evening. Right now.

Barack Obama has just accepted the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

My enthusiasm is decidely lacking.

***

Last year around this time, gearing up to primary season & all the debate over who it should be, I was remaining ambivalent about the Democratic options.

Sure, there were epic options. There could be the first woman. Or the first black man. But I was unimpressed with all, & figured that they would have plenty of time to convince me that they were right for this country & would therefore earn my vote.

Later, when it narrowed down to Hillary & Obama, I started to lean towards Obama. The effect that he had had on the people of my generation was staggering, & I was hoping to support him & that he in turn would not let us down.


But he's failed me.

And the votes haven't even been cast yet.


So I wanted to take this moment to say that as much as I would like to the contrary, I will not be voting for Obama in the November 2008 election. I feel that he is lying when he talks about ending the war in Iraq because even though he plans to withdraw the troops from Iraq, many of them will just be restationed elsewhere (read: starting in Afghanistan). That is not the result we need. And I do not like his refusal to take military intervention off the table in regards to Iran. And I do not like his blind support in the Israeli government.

Due to all of this, I cannot in good faith vote for Barack Obama & still believe in myself.

I will not be voting for the lesser of two evils.

And I will mourn the weight on my heart of this disappointment.

Flashback Time

This summer is the 40th anniversary of the '68 National Conventions.

It is a time to think about what was happening at that time.

And a time to think about what will be happening in the future.


What role will we each choose to play in the future of our government & society?

Instant Gratification

In my latest efforts to become a little greener, I bought a worm composter last weekend to replace the giant composter that I got a few months ago that is causing trouble because it's too big for my balcony (since it is meant to be in a backyard....which I don't have....Oh, & don't worry. We plan on giving the old one away to someone who does have the space for it.)

How does this relate to my title?

When my roommate & I were talking about getting the more compact worm composter, the plan was to move all the material from the old composter into the new one. But when I was reading the directions today, it told me to make sure that I didn't add any more than 1 inch of compostable matter into the tray at a time so that the worms weren't getting overfed.

So much for just dumping it all at once and breaking down the old one.


But should that really be a surprise to me? And will I end up viewing it as an inconvenience? Why should I even consider it an inconvenience?


When I was thinking about it, I got to be reminded once again about how we tend to think about things in the immediate. It's hard to think about how our actions will play out in the long run. We just haven't been trained to think that way. Everything is about the now.


How to we change that attitude?

How do we see beyond the instant gratification of whatever it is we think we need to see the picture as a whole & think of the effect of our actions as time passes?


I hope that for me my worms will be a great help to help me slow down & think more.