toothache?
Thoughts from a friend mine on a topic much worse than dental pain.
This morning I went to the dentist's office before coming to work, for a
routine cleaning. I sat in the chair and my dentist asked me how I was.
I sighed. I could not say "fine," as dictated by cultural form.
"I've been better. I'm depressed about the news this morning," I said.
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. "Me too. We really
needed a change of direction. It's been... I've been full of anxiety for
three months, and last night.."
"I know. It's disheartening."
"I just can't believe it," she said.
I nodded and shrugged--inadequate gestures, but what could you say about
being in the minority on an electoral decision. We live in a democracy.
The people have spoken in record numbers, and most of them apparently do
not agree with us.
"I am worried for my son," she said.
"How old is he?"
"Twenty-one."
We looked at each other for a moment longer and found nothing to say, so
she adjusted her rubber gloves and reached for the lamp over head, turning
its beam onto my face and shining the light into my mouth. I closed my
eyes and let the cleaning begin.
I worried for her son too, though not explicitly because of the
prospect of a draft (which W has promised he will not introduce,
though it would not be entirely surprising if this turns out to be untrue,
given how many documented untruths he told in his first four years in
office.) I worried for her son, because I worry for us all.
Even though I disagree with those who think that W's wars have made the
world safer, and that his erosion of civil liberties works to our benefit,
I can understand why fearful citizens with little experience of the world
beyond the US borders would put their faith in these
policies. I worry about the policies themselves, but I don't worry about
the goodness and values of people who vote in favor of them. I assume
that these voters are basically good people who are simply
afraid.
But they say ("they" being the people whose opinions are broadcast and
printed in the media, in wake of elections) that "moral values" was cited
in exit polls as the single most common factor that brought Bush
supporters out to vote. The moral values to which they refer are
undoubtedly a narrowly defined subset of Christian values, such as
intolerance for gay marriage, which was voted into law in eleven
states during this election. (And this truly baffles me, for I can see no
logical reason to fear such an institution. Allowing gay
people to marry will not harm straight people. No heterosexual
couples will be inconvenienced in any way. No families will be
threatened, no homes will be broken, and no one will be prevented from
adhering their own personal set of values. To prohibit people who love
each other from making a formal commitment ro one another,
whatever their sexual orientation, is sheer and indefensible bigotry.)
The fact that this
kind of "morality" is what motivates so many American voters is of grave
concern to me. Of even greater concern is the fact that their strident
sense of morality makes so light of other Christian values such as peace,
forgiveness, and helping the neediest citizens of our own country. We are
killing innocent civilians in foreign countries, allowing our own largest
corporations to profit from the spoils of war, and inciting hatred around
the globe, while our schools and health care systems struggle to function,
and the average voter is more
concerned about preventing fags in love from gaining legal
recognition. We have lost our moral compass. This worries me very greatly.
I am also concerned because the power of extreme conservatives has been
greatly strengthened. I am not concerned simply because they took a few
more seats in the Senate and House, or because they will almost certainly
gain a much greater numerical advantage on the
Supreme Court during the next four years (though that part is
particularly scary). I am concerned because of the precedent set in these
elections. The Bush Administration proved that they can govern from the
extreme ideological right, and still carry a majority of the American
voting population with them, so there
will be no need for them to try to strike any kind of centrist
position with broader appeal. They can maintain power while still edging
the country ever further to the right, continuing to privilege the already
privileged and the corporations over the people who need the government's
assistance the most.
Lots of my friends (you know, us liberals) have been joking for months
about running away to Canada or Europe if this election went to Bush. Of
course, many of us also believe that if you live in a democracy and you
don't like the direction it's taking, you should work to change it, rather
than running away from it. Immigration is not a decision to undertake on
impulse. I'm not packing up yet. But of course, if you lived in a
country which denied you freedom and opportunities, you'd be well
justified for entertaining the notion.
My dentist is Iranian. She immigrated to the United States many years
ago. I am sure that, like so many immigrants, she came here because there
were greater opportunities (doubtless there are few, if any, female
dentists in Iran) and because she thought she would be able to offer her
children a better life here.
I have begun to worry what kind of life my children would be able to have
in the United States. Our primary and secondary educational
systems are underfunded and underperforming. The cost of higher
education is rising at a rate much high than inflation, and by the time my
children (who are as yet unborn) will be ready to attend, I might not be
able to afford to send them to a top university like
the one my parents sent me to. The cost of healthcare is rising at a rate
higher than inflation as well, and I might not be able to afford to take
care of my children if they, God forbid, were to have some kind of serious
medical condition. According to current projections, the social security
since will have long since collapsed by the time any child of mine would
be in a position to take advantage of it, even though they would spend
most of their working lives supporting it. And anywhere my children
traveled in the world, they would be likely to encounter contempt and
derision because they were American.
I was sitting in the dentist chair with my eyes closed, thinking about the
life my Iranian dentist had wanted for her son when she came to America
and wondering how the life they ended up with compared with those hopes,
while she scraped away at my teeth. I heard a sniffling noise. Then
another. I opened my eyes and squinted in the glare of the lamp to look
at her. Her eyes were full of tears.
This morning I went to the dentist's office before coming to work, for a
routine cleaning. I sat in the chair and my dentist asked me how I was.
I sighed. I could not say "fine," as dictated by cultural form.
"I've been better. I'm depressed about the news this morning," I said.
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. "Me too. We really
needed a change of direction. It's been... I've been full of anxiety for
three months, and last night.."
"I know. It's disheartening."
"I just can't believe it," she said.
I nodded and shrugged--inadequate gestures, but what could you say about
being in the minority on an electoral decision. We live in a democracy.
The people have spoken in record numbers, and most of them apparently do
not agree with us.
"I am worried for my son," she said.
"How old is he?"
"Twenty-one."
We looked at each other for a moment longer and found nothing to say, so
she adjusted her rubber gloves and reached for the lamp over head, turning
its beam onto my face and shining the light into my mouth. I closed my
eyes and let the cleaning begin.
I worried for her son too, though not explicitly because of the
prospect of a draft (which W has promised he will not introduce,
though it would not be entirely surprising if this turns out to be untrue,
given how many documented untruths he told in his first four years in
office.) I worried for her son, because I worry for us all.
Even though I disagree with those who think that W's wars have made the
world safer, and that his erosion of civil liberties works to our benefit,
I can understand why fearful citizens with little experience of the world
beyond the US borders would put their faith in these
policies. I worry about the policies themselves, but I don't worry about
the goodness and values of people who vote in favor of them. I assume
that these voters are basically good people who are simply
afraid.
But they say ("they" being the people whose opinions are broadcast and
printed in the media, in wake of elections) that "moral values" was cited
in exit polls as the single most common factor that brought Bush
supporters out to vote. The moral values to which they refer are
undoubtedly a narrowly defined subset of Christian values, such as
intolerance for gay marriage, which was voted into law in eleven
states during this election. (And this truly baffles me, for I can see no
logical reason to fear such an institution. Allowing gay
people to marry will not harm straight people. No heterosexual
couples will be inconvenienced in any way. No families will be
threatened, no homes will be broken, and no one will be prevented from
adhering their own personal set of values. To prohibit people who love
each other from making a formal commitment ro one another,
whatever their sexual orientation, is sheer and indefensible bigotry.)
The fact that this
kind of "morality" is what motivates so many American voters is of grave
concern to me. Of even greater concern is the fact that their strident
sense of morality makes so light of other Christian values such as peace,
forgiveness, and helping the neediest citizens of our own country. We are
killing innocent civilians in foreign countries, allowing our own largest
corporations to profit from the spoils of war, and inciting hatred around
the globe, while our schools and health care systems struggle to function,
and the average voter is more
concerned about preventing fags in love from gaining legal
recognition. We have lost our moral compass. This worries me very greatly.
I am also concerned because the power of extreme conservatives has been
greatly strengthened. I am not concerned simply because they took a few
more seats in the Senate and House, or because they will almost certainly
gain a much greater numerical advantage on the
Supreme Court during the next four years (though that part is
particularly scary). I am concerned because of the precedent set in these
elections. The Bush Administration proved that they can govern from the
extreme ideological right, and still carry a majority of the American
voting population with them, so there
will be no need for them to try to strike any kind of centrist
position with broader appeal. They can maintain power while still edging
the country ever further to the right, continuing to privilege the already
privileged and the corporations over the people who need the government's
assistance the most.
Lots of my friends (you know, us liberals) have been joking for months
about running away to Canada or Europe if this election went to Bush. Of
course, many of us also believe that if you live in a democracy and you
don't like the direction it's taking, you should work to change it, rather
than running away from it. Immigration is not a decision to undertake on
impulse. I'm not packing up yet. But of course, if you lived in a
country which denied you freedom and opportunities, you'd be well
justified for entertaining the notion.
My dentist is Iranian. She immigrated to the United States many years
ago. I am sure that, like so many immigrants, she came here because there
were greater opportunities (doubtless there are few, if any, female
dentists in Iran) and because she thought she would be able to offer her
children a better life here.
I have begun to worry what kind of life my children would be able to have
in the United States. Our primary and secondary educational
systems are underfunded and underperforming. The cost of higher
education is rising at a rate much high than inflation, and by the time my
children (who are as yet unborn) will be ready to attend, I might not be
able to afford to send them to a top university like
the one my parents sent me to. The cost of healthcare is rising at a rate
higher than inflation as well, and I might not be able to afford to take
care of my children if they, God forbid, were to have some kind of serious
medical condition. According to current projections, the social security
since will have long since collapsed by the time any child of mine would
be in a position to take advantage of it, even though they would spend
most of their working lives supporting it. And anywhere my children
traveled in the world, they would be likely to encounter contempt and
derision because they were American.
I was sitting in the dentist chair with my eyes closed, thinking about the
life my Iranian dentist had wanted for her son when she came to America
and wondering how the life they ended up with compared with those hopes,
while she scraped away at my teeth. I heard a sniffling noise. Then
another. I opened my eyes and squinted in the glare of the lamp to look
at her. Her eyes were full of tears.