This post is political in nature and is not intended to offend. It is intended, however, to add to the reasons for everyone to vote in this General Election, whether you agree with the content or not. I speak only for myself here, despite the fact that this is a family blog, and would enjoy hearing what our family and friends have to say on the topic.
I very much still feel American. I bargain hunt, appreciate my TV shows on a familial level and hold freedom of speech deep at heart. (I and a Canadian co-worker just successfully dismantled the office Swear Box, an evil contraption meant to punish those who swore in the office by taking their money in amounts linked to the severity of the swear word. People should be able to shout at the permanently busted copy machine, damnit, without the propriety police judging them.) Most of all, I'm beginning to understand a fundamental truth that seems to have become lost on many an American official and citizen: America is and always will be one member within the wider global community. Her actions are felt across broad expanses of water and her inaction has the same ability to offend as a person on the street has for not helping an accident victim. America is a part of the world, and because I feel like a part of the world all the way down here in little 'ol New Zealand, I feel an obligation to make my voice and experience count in every way I can. Mahatma Gandhi had it right when he said to "be the change you want to see in the world." This is all very fine and well for individuals but it goes for nations as well.
When we first moved down here the first question my students always asked was, "Did you vote for President Bush?" The middle-school kids were mostly curious; high schoolers tended to frost their words with a bit more indignation. Most adult Kiwis avoided this pointed and personal question, rather opting for variations on what Americans thought about what Bush Co. Ltd. were doing to Iraq. We had plenty of interesting conversations but nonetheless felt a bit tired and battered by the end of our first 6 months here. This social/political grilling wasn't what we signed up for when we moved here, nor was it what we were prepared to endure for the duration of our time here. Our only recourse was to sigh and develop a handful of strategies for changing the conversation. Only once did I play the political refugee card; it felt hollow and cheap, so I didn't touch it again.
Perhaps we've blended in or we now have a consistent social circle, but these questions seem to have changed in the last year or so. It feels like the rest of the world has realised that Bush Co. Ltd. will close up shop and another President will move into his place. There seems to be less quiet bitterness about things and a curiosity and optimism that things will change. We are frequently asked what we think of the candidates. When asked who we are voting for, and we say "Obama/Biden", people nod and relax a little...and then they ask if Palin is for real. We nod, and then they shake their heads. And I don't feel the guilt that I felt at this time nearly three years ago. Kiwi's don't despise these candidates the way that they despise Bush, although they are more leery of the McCain/Palin ticket than of the other candidates. This hatred that the current administration seems to have drawn out of people gets spit out on us expats indirectly and it's rather tiring.
It never ceases to disappoint me that Kiwis are more curious about us than America is of the rest of the world. With any luck, the next President will encourage people to cross American borders by making border security more humane; maybe my co-workers won't complain so much about having to take a longer route back to the UK through Singapore because they refuse to be insulted by the TSA again. Maybe the Kyoto Protocol will gain traction with lawmakers as a positive thing, and diplomacy and inter-national conversation will take top priority.
This is why I am submitting an Overseas ballot. Not because I hope to live in the US in the future, or because my family still lives there and I want a better place for them to live. I vote because American policies are having a direct effect on our community down here in NZ. Just the other day there was a story in the New Zealand Herald about Kiwi troops that are being targeted by militants in a relatively quiet area in Afghanistan. There aren't any complaints about Kiwi soldiers doing their part to help communities overseas; there are conversations, though, about when they will be able to come home and get on with things, as they say. Kiwis don't like treading water.
This weekend we are sending our ballots to the Missoula County Elections Office, as that was the last place we voted, and we wear our bumper stickers with pride. And we're planning on staying up November 5th in the hopes of seeing competent leadership return to the White House.
2 comments:
How are Kiwis doing now that Obama and the Democrats seem so completely in charge? Is it realistic to think that Obama, or any one, can repair the global damage that was started almost 30 years ago with the election of Ronald Reagan? If, as many commentators claim, America is quickly becomming one of many major players in the world is New Zealand ready to get to work and take on some ofthe role America has played as an exemplar of how democracy works? Is NZ ready if the bloated American economy pulls everyone, Kiwis and all, down the economic toilet?
Good questions, COG. Since the November elections I've noticed a heightened curiosity in Obama and his choices. This isn't too special, as I think everyone is interested in how he'll do in his first years. The Kiwis I've talked to don't expect him to be able to fix everything (indeed, they ask if Americans really think he can clean things up), nor do they think that NZ is a passive member in the global community right now.
New Zealand hasn't and doesn't expect America to do all of the heavy lifting in the global community. The US isn't the only 1st world democracy on the planet; in fact, there are a lot of countries out there whose electoral and representative systems work just as well if not better than the US's. Kiwis just don't like it when the US flaunts global efforts on certain projects like climate change and nuclear disarmament. They have a point with these concerns. I think the government down here has a habit of injecting what it can into international projects (Iraq, APEC, etc) simply because it's a tiny nation far removed from things, and sees partnership as the only way forward. In the modern world, this really is the only way to keep up, let alone get ahead.
As far as what NZ will do when the US economy tanks, who can say. If US and European markets both sink terribly, there's not a lot that anyone will be able to do to withstand it. After all, we're all subject to global economies and can only be so self-reliant.
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