A Good Time to Drink

Written by DBrasco, Editorial Flair by Anonymous

Senator Barack Obama has, in many ways, changed the direction of the world. If he wins, some lives will be filled with joy, surprise, and a good excuse to drink for two or three months. If he loses, some lives will be filled with pain, agony, and an even bigger excuse to hit the sauce for four or six months. After the novelty wears off and the booze stops flowing, Americans will no longer view themselves in the same way. We no longer will be able to consciously make blanket racial statements; or perhaps they will simply turn their focus onto Mexicans. We no longer will be able to consciously attribute race for the failings or achievements of specific groups, it’s just that Barack’s white half dragged his other lazy Black half by his bootstraps.

From now on we will see our world as it is in reality – socio-economically disparate. In the present global economy, gone are the days of being the wealthiest person on the block, in the city, or in the country, now you compete on the world stage where oil tycoons are building entire cities. Your five bedroom house and Hummer suddenly look small. All the while, poverty is staggering in every country, not just those we call ‘under-developed’, as the prices of rice, flour, and milk climb exponentially. Gray’s Papaya hotdogs are now $8. The bailout of banks and big companies, while people are evicted from their homes in the same year their jobs hop a flight on Air India, is certain to widen the gap between rich and poor. That brings us back to race. Poor minority communities were poor before the housing crisis, and now they will certainly be abandoned. Loss of ‘wealth’ heaped on top of underperforming schools and no job opportunities will usher in violence and crime. Our news media will focus on the minorities who find themselves with their backs against the wall and will say ‘they are getting out of control’ and ‘they are waiting for a handout’. Are we returning to the 80’s? And if so, will hip-hop then get better?

That brings us back to the race. If Obama is elected, and his tax plan is enacted to help the so-called middle class, what will happen if, even with all of the subsidies and credits in place, banks continue to foreclose and jobs continue to head to India and Costa Rica, China and Bangladesh? Everyone is waiting for the world to change on the coattails of a campaign, but the system set in place is static, and that system is global. The US does not control Russia and Venezuela, China and Africa, or Darfur. John McCain will not tell the Tamil Tigers to stop, or give the nod to Israel to bomb Iran. These are the issues that we face world-wide, not whether AIG or GM are too important to fail or if 250K is enough to be ‘rich’. And yes, Joe the Plumber is rich, even if he does wear plaid shirts, so don’t feel bad for him. Poverty is what keeps wealthy people in power, the middle class as a talking point, and the lower class as a footnote.