some words

[whorlpool]

I just wrote what follows as a response to someone in my last entry, but I think my words have wider relevance, so I'm posting them here as a separate entry. Let me preface it by saying this: when I started this journal something like eight or nine years ago, I had a wide variety of people reading it, including quite a few with who I disagree on a

Comments

[nomi]

This is exactly how I have felt, but unable to put into writing. I also believe that alienating people who don't think like I do is unhealthy and makes no one change in the end, I am constantly adjusting my opinions as I learn and staying receptive to others' views has even made them come around and meet me halfway because I didn't shun them outright.

The respect of other nations is incredibly important, maybe people like you and me who have to live outside of the US are the few who fully realize the significance of it. For so many reasons, but also for personal safety.

Thank you for posting this, I've missed your words.

..

[whorlpool]

I suspect we have a similar perspective on this, and it's strange to me but I think not every expat does. But I feel that I've somehow earned a deeper perspective on things during this journey. It's not easy. It's hard as fuck, really, to have to question all of your assumptions and to admit that a lot of them are, if not completely wrong, than at the least very limited.

But I'll tell you a secret: it keeps you young. I mean, it's like a fountain of youth. I wish I could bottle it.

great post

[bfm]

I love "the two parties in the centre" - I only see one, and actually call them centre-right these days ; )

btw - It will be truly sad if this moment for the US is tainted by Proposition Hate in California, but I'll wait to see the final tally.

Re: great post

[whorlpool]

California does that occasionally; it's a weird state. I think the prop will get caught up in the courts; propositions like that tend to be declared unconstitutional.

The Tories and Liberals, by international standards, are close together in the centre. A minority Tory government that has to concentrate on economic matters and has to deal with a Democratic government which will be governing from centre-left (Obama will be a centrist; he gained support from a bunch of prominent conservatives because they saw him as centrist) is no threat to anyone. Harper has over and over again silenced the socially conservative wing of his party, and he's going to be too busy to do otherwise for the foreseeable future. Not an ideal situation, but it could be infinitely worse.

Meanwhile, it's summer. Let's get together very soon and go to the beach. Or for coffee, at least.

Re: great post

[whorlpool]

On second thought, the Liberals did try very hard this time around to elect themselves out of existence. Another round of that and we'll have one party centre-right and one party on the left. I kind of like having a bunch of parties, though; it was fun to watch the "let's all beat the crap out of Harper" debate. You don't see that kind of thing much south of the border.

[georgia]

Well said! You have a knack for rebutting without attacking, good on you. And I will second what you said about the world's reaction - living in a foreign country myself (where many other foreigners are living) I have seen people hold their breath when they have asked me who I was voting for, and heard them let it go in relief when I said "Obama." Everyday people of Ireland, England, Nigeria, and Poland. That speaks louder to me than any campaign propaganda in the US. You get a totally different story out here, outside the voting sphere of the US.

Are you still a US citizen?

..

[whorlpool]

Yes. You don't lose your citizenship unless you explicitly reject it, which I can't imagine doing unless something really horrible happened, such as Sarah Palin becoming President. I'm eligible for Canadian citizenship in March, and then I hope to have dual citizenship. I plan to live in Canada for the rest of my life, though, unless I eventually become a sheep farmer in Middle Earth I mean New Zealand.