Paradigm shattered

Aggressive rooster blocks pedestrians,
threatens women and children,
is given new home in the country.

The election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States represents far more than simply a repudiation of Republican economic philosophy.

I have never believed in miracles. I still don’t. But what we witnessed last night is probably the closest we will ever come to one. The basic paradigm that has informed Western-European thought for the past 600 or more years, that provided the excuse for the unbelievable savagery of colonialism, with its underpinnings of Christian theology, cultural evolution (social Darwinism), the belief in the Great Chain of Being, and its prevailing myth of white superiority: this underlying paradigm that has been slowly eroding for the past few years, was finally shattered once and for all last night with the election of a black man to the Presidency of the United States. However unwittingly, a majority of voters in the United States managed to overcome their lingering racial prejudice and announce to the world that, indeed, all people are equal in dignity and respect within the social contract that binds us together. The full effects of this massive paradigm shift will only be realized over time but will permeate both national and international relations to the benefit of all. I have never been more proud to be an American.

Racism, however, will not disappear easily or quickly in Western-European life. It is part of our literature and even exists in our language and symbolism. The “good guys” wear white hats, the “bad guys” black hats, black is always bad, as in “black hearts,” “black Tuesday,” “blackmail,” “black clouds,” “black thoughts,” “blackhards,” “black widows,” “blackball” “Blackwater,” and so on. Black is a symbol of evil in our culture, of mourning, and of death itself. The very fact that Obama is described as our first Black President is nothing less than a remnant of racial prejudice, a product of the one percent (1%) rule (if you have even 1% of black blood you are considered black). This is why Obama can be described as black, even though he is just as much white as black. In reality he is not our first Black President, he’s our first Black and White President. We insist he is black because of the 1% rule (which I think you have to admit is really pretty stupid). Ideally, his color should be completely irrelevant to his Presidency.

There will be some, of course, who will not rejoice in this monumental achievement, pockets of culture still mired in the early 20th century that will have to be slowly brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Idaho is a good example. Obama apparently received only 36% of the vote in Idaho (I think this is still more votes than any previous Democratic candidate received for a very long time). None of the Democratic candidates here in Boundary County were elected, all losing by large margins. Walt Minnick was elected, defeating Bill Sali, but this is quite an exception as Sali had proven himself not only incompetent but basically useless during his first term in the House. Larry LaRocco, an exceptionally fine candidate for the Senate, was defeated by Jim Risch, a previous Republican Lieutenant Governor. There may have been one or two Democratic candidates elected in the Boise area, and all of the incumbent Democrats were easily re-elected. If this is so, and I guess it is, the pattern would seem to indicate more a fear of change than anything else. To add insult to injury, someone stole our Obama sign last night. Idaho, along with Utah and Wyoming, can retain their place along with the spittoons and six-guns of yesteryear. One good thing about living here, I guess, is that you needn’t worry about being run over by the engines of progress.

LKBIQ:
. The greatest and noblest pleasure which men can have in this world is to discover new truths; and the next is to shake off old prejudices.
Frederick The Great

TILT:
A galantine is a dish made from boned poultry or meat, stuffed and pressed into a symmetrical shape, and cooked in a gelatine stock.