I know it's a little late, and you're probably tired about hearing about the elections now that they're over, but I'm going to write about it anyway.
I thought the best part about being abroad during the campaign season would most certainly be not having to see all the adds on TV, and while that was pretty fantastic, I think the perspective I got from being around non-Americans during the election was perhaps more interesting. I'll try and stick to just what I observed from those around me, but I'm going to share some of my own thoughts too. If something I say offends you... well, get over it.
First and foremost, I can tell you that regardless of your feelings about Obama, the rest of the world is really glad he will be back in office for the next four years. All of the foreigners I've met here, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and especially the Russians were all happy to hear that Obama won the race. My French friends thought that Romney seemed extreme, and reactionary, and of course, all the Russians I have met were more than a little put off by his Cold War-era mentality of Russia being the number 1 enemy of America.
I have to agree with them. Regardless of whether or not I like all of his policies, I do think Obama was the better choice between the two. Of course, I didn't care for either candidate, and saying Obama was better than Romney, for me, is like saying oatmeal is better than grits. They're both essentially the same, and I'm not particularly fond of either. All of that aside, I do believe that we are living in an every increasingly globalized and connected world, and it is increasingly important that we have a president that sees the necessity of cooperation between nations. Returning to the rhetoric of "Forget the rest of the world, especially those Godless Commies," will not take us anywhere. It's time to wake up, and realize that the rest of the world faces many of the same problems we do, and whether they speak English, German, French, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, or whatever else, they are still just people trying to build a better future. Of course, it's more complicated than that, and sometimes groups result to extreme methods like terrorism or economic repression (looking at you, IMF) to achieve these goals, and that's unacceptable, but the principle is still the same. Everyone just wants to be happy.
It's also important to point out that if Romney had won, and we had returned to the "Those pinko Commies are Godless scum," rhetoric I might have a lot of trouble finding work after graduation, and we can't have that, now can we?
One last thing...
I'm getting a little bored about writing entire posts about my week to week activities. Of course, the excursions I go on are interesting, and I'll keep posting about them, but the day to day of my life is pretty regular, and not much fun to write about, so... If there is something in particular you would like to know about let me know through email, facebook, messenger pigeon, whatever, it doesn't matter. Right now I'm thinking about doing a post on food, one about how we get around, and one focused more specifically on the metro here, but if you have some more ideas, let me know, because I'm sure I'll run out of my own quickly.
As always, much love and I miss you all
I thought the best part about being abroad during the campaign season would most certainly be not having to see all the adds on TV, and while that was pretty fantastic, I think the perspective I got from being around non-Americans during the election was perhaps more interesting. I'll try and stick to just what I observed from those around me, but I'm going to share some of my own thoughts too. If something I say offends you... well, get over it.
First and foremost, I can tell you that regardless of your feelings about Obama, the rest of the world is really glad he will be back in office for the next four years. All of the foreigners I've met here, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and especially the Russians were all happy to hear that Obama won the race. My French friends thought that Romney seemed extreme, and reactionary, and of course, all the Russians I have met were more than a little put off by his Cold War-era mentality of Russia being the number 1 enemy of America.
I have to agree with them. Regardless of whether or not I like all of his policies, I do think Obama was the better choice between the two. Of course, I didn't care for either candidate, and saying Obama was better than Romney, for me, is like saying oatmeal is better than grits. They're both essentially the same, and I'm not particularly fond of either. All of that aside, I do believe that we are living in an every increasingly globalized and connected world, and it is increasingly important that we have a president that sees the necessity of cooperation between nations. Returning to the rhetoric of "Forget the rest of the world, especially those Godless Commies," will not take us anywhere. It's time to wake up, and realize that the rest of the world faces many of the same problems we do, and whether they speak English, German, French, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, or whatever else, they are still just people trying to build a better future. Of course, it's more complicated than that, and sometimes groups result to extreme methods like terrorism or economic repression (looking at you, IMF) to achieve these goals, and that's unacceptable, but the principle is still the same. Everyone just wants to be happy.
It's also important to point out that if Romney had won, and we had returned to the "Those pinko Commies are Godless scum," rhetoric I might have a lot of trouble finding work after graduation, and we can't have that, now can we?
One last thing...
I'm getting a little bored about writing entire posts about my week to week activities. Of course, the excursions I go on are interesting, and I'll keep posting about them, but the day to day of my life is pretty regular, and not much fun to write about, so... If there is something in particular you would like to know about let me know through email, facebook, messenger pigeon, whatever, it doesn't matter. Right now I'm thinking about doing a post on food, one about how we get around, and one focused more specifically on the metro here, but if you have some more ideas, let me know, because I'm sure I'll run out of my own quickly.
As always, much love and I miss you all
No comments:
Post a Comment