No One Should Doubt the Power of Symbolism

It’s worth remembering what others see in this American election. Here’s a view from a pro-government newspaper in Saudi Arabia:

For the millionth time, America disappointed its critics and mocked those who expressed doubts about the truth of its democracy. For the millionth time, America proved that it is a republic of man no matter his ethnicity, religion or cultural background. For the millionth time, American proved, by action and not merely words, that it is the country of equal opportunity, social justice, real freedom, and creative democracy. We, who live outside America, do not love this giant empire because of its cruel hegemony over the world. Yet we cannot deceive ourselves by hiding our admiration for this reinvigorated American spirit that is not blinded by might or corrupted by supremacy for the United States, whether we liked it or not, is always capable of reinventing itself and mocking all other countries of the world that cannot show the same degree of ded ication and loyalty to their professed principles.

…Thus Bush almost singlehandedly destroyed the American empire because of his rashness. Maybe this threat of collapse is still alive today but America armed itself yesterday against this threat with its real armour, which enabled it to ascend to the leadership of the world. This armour is much stronger than all of its ballistic missiles: it is the armour of equality, democracy and the endless ability to change. This is the real America that cannot be denied even by its enemies. This America doesn’t care about who you are or where you come from, as it only cares about what you can present to the American nation. I am almost certain that Al-Qa’idah, as an example, would never dare to appoint a man of African origins as its head despite its all its religious values about equality between humans.

Let us not forget that when Osama Bin Laden was talking about those who carried out the September 11 attacks, he was focused on identifying their famous Arab tribes and their lineages. Obama might come to disappoint people inside America and outside it and he might even commit more mistakes that his predecessor but the fact remains that the United States proved yesterday that it is the most loyal country in the world to its professed principles and values and that the accusations levelled at it of racism and oppressing people of colour are illogical, especially when we compare its record in this regard to that of the rest of the countries of the world. Lastly, we say that every country in the world can take pride in its traditions and customs, but is there any tradition in the world better than the American tradition, when the defeated admits his defeat and congratulates the victor in the elections?

Regardless of the estimation one might have of Obama’s character and ability to govern, we ignore the symbolic power of his election at our peril. This is an unbelievable opening, and whether it was deserved or not, it should nonetheless be utilized for the enormous global challenges that our country will confront.

A ‘Millimetric Event’

From Christopher Hitchens:

…Soft-centered thoughts for a fall day, perhaps, but there still is nothing quite like seeing a large democracy doing its stuff, and sensing that by these millions of small and modest decisions a historic and dramatic shift may be under way.  Such millimetric events are more impressive than many more ostensibly “revolutionary” ones.

Election Day in America

One of our country’s greatest poets on the character of this nation:

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,
Giving me strength erect against her hate.
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state,
I stand within her walls with not a shred
Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

Much has obviously changed since the Harlem Renaissance, but what remains—what has been a constant throughout this nation’s brief history—is the tortured soul of a country perpetually stuck between the contradictions of its promise and its peril. Today’s results, despite any assertions to the contrary, won’t change this fundamental nature (as they couldn’t in any political system), but here’s hoping that what transpires today might at least nudge the pendulum back to the vicinity of promise.