"Hope" Is Not a Buzz Word

I was 23 years old when the nation was attacked on September 11, 2001. I can remember hearing pundits say "this changes everything" and "things will never be the same." Obviously it was a tragic and traumatic event, but that sentiment has carried on through the better part of my twenties. If you were 43 years old on that day, I would imagine it was a difficult concept to get your head around as well, but if you were a young adult just entering his or her individual life, there was an added twist; how can you process the idea of everything changing and things never being the same when you have no point of reference for what "everything" and "the same" is? I was just beginning to put my hands on the world around me, to interact and engage with it, and to actualize the dream of being an adult in a free society. To wait in line for 23 years only to have the "sorry, future canceled" sign flipped in my face was depressing, to say the least.

The social and political narrative of the last eight years, if you're a young adult, has been "you are the first generation of the second half of the rest of human existence." That's a huge psychological undertaking, and I believe it's one that will someday be diagnosed on a massive scale as having led to a kind of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (Something has to explain away our premature obsession with 1980s nostalgia.) My generation has come to know itself as the generation that should have seen the good days, my, were they spectacular, now take off your shoes and place them on the belt.

What Barack Obama says to me is these days are good for something. Just when I'd thought my only role as an adult was to help shoulder the nation through its darkest days (known to us as "the rest of them"), Obama gives me the feeling that I could be alive to witness one of the most brilliant upturns in a country's history. Imagine that -- a young adult in this day and age being given something to someday brag to his children about having being alive to witness. What a concept.

That's why hope is a worthwhile commodity. To those who question whether hope is a tangible product worth building a campaign around, I'd say take a look at despair and how powerful that has been in reshaping how people think and live. I believe the definition of the "hope" that Barack Obama enthuses operates on the unspoken thesis that there has to be a polar opposite to the despair of 9/11. Because if we accept that there's not, the will to live becomes forever altered. To adults who will vote for him, Barack Obama represents a return to prosperity. To the youth, he represents an introduction to it.

Comments

[Joseph A. Palermo]

03:23 PM on 11/03/2008

Great post, yes, it is so amazing to see young people so energized and committed -- that alone is a great accomplish­ment from Barack Obama.

[AZ4thatone]

11:22 AM on 11/03/2008

After following quite a few of these posts, I find this particular subject really interestin­g and enlighteni­ng. I have children John Mayer's age. One of their very good friends was in NYC 1 block away from ground zero on 9-11 so they got a pretty good first hand descriptio­n of what it was like.
I didn't think that John Mayer was saying that his generation was "carrying the burden" of 9-11. I do think it is safe to say that the media bombarded the point acoss day after day, hour after hour, for months. Remember the video of the plane slamming into the WTC. How many times did you see it? If, this generation did see the events that unfolded as "the beginning of the end" of life as we knew it, I would blame the messenger. Alot of his generation were latch key kids and they did spend alot of time in front of the TV and the talking heads. I'm sure by the time they got to college the TV was their number source for current affairs. Early twenties is an extremely impression­able age.

[PhDiva]

06:03 AM on 11/01/2008

I'm a professor, and this article gives me a different way of looking at my students, who are much younger than John but are part of the post-9/11 generation­.

The great thing about Obama creating a new era for young people is that THEY are the ones who made all of this happen.

Even if I didn't like Obama, although I do, he would get my vote just because of how much he inspires my students and other young people. I want them to have this president and this future. When this many young people support Obama, those of us over 35 have to pay attention.

Also, I love the "Heart of the World." John's best song ever. Yes, John, the heart of the world IS good, and on November 4th, it will be even better.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

07:28 AM on 10/31/2008

I feel a new song coming on John......­and pretty timely during this election.

[dorzic]

04:56 PM on 10/30/2008

When a small police force could have taken out the criminals who perpetrate­d the crimes on 9/11, the politician­s in Washington and the MSM opted instead to trumpet it as an act of War and used 9/11 to expand a pax Americana military empire across the globe. Perhaps the younger generation­, or maybe most of us, are feeling guilt because we haven't lifted a finger to reverse this uncivilize­d and unjust reaction. What we're feeling is not doom and gloom. We're feeling glutton's guilt, self-pity and loathing because we've not sacrificed our gimme-it-n­ow comforts and lazy reasoning. Maybe hope is a buzzword for waking up, turning off the TV, getting involved. Vote and make sure you're vote is counted. Hope is fleeting. What lasts is the ability and strength to stand up and help ensure that our country promotes a civil and just world where basic human rights matter and where social and economic injustices are cured.

[isscc]

03:24 PM on 10/30/2008

I agree, I was 22 and starting graduate school after moving out of nyc in sept of 2001. It was a terrible way to start a new phase of life, reality pulled out from under us. Barack Obama is the anthisis to all that - having hope can be powerful than the fear, and depression the republican corporate candidates are propagatin­g while claiming to do the opposite. . .

[OpusIsUnderTheBed]

02:45 PM on 10/30/2008

John, We'll both be voting for Obama/Bide­n.

Regarding your article, I really enjoy your music.

[DS3M]

05:08 PM on 10/30/2008

A backhanded compliment is still a compliment­, lol

[Badbone]

01:41 AM on 11/01/2008

Well then in that case your comment was...usef­ul.

[MossyOak]

02:10 PM on 10/30/2008

I've been thinking about John's column quite a bit since I first read it, reliving some of what he felt when I was his age. I was 19 when the government instituted the draft and I watched my fiance leave for Vietnam. We were both in college with ethical goals and our whole lives ahead of us. While I waited for him to come home, I joined the anti-war movement, dodging tear gas and hoping for a miracle, but he never came back.

There are few generation­s in American history who have had an easy time of it, John, and war of some type has almost always been at the root of our misery. I'm voting for Obama because he promises to bring an end to yet another war we should have never been in, and because in all my years as an American he is by far the best man to ever run for president.

[AProudRepublican]

03:43 PM on 10/30/2008

Wow, my heart goes out to you in losing your fiance - what a horrible thing to have happened to you - especially when you had so much hope ahead of you. Whether the war was right or not, the men that fought in that war are to be honored.

I really like your comment as it shows that war has "always" been a part of our lives. I guess that's why for me, after 9/11, nothing really changed much, because these types of things have always been a part of our lives. In my eyes though, this isn't heaven, it's earth, so I don't expect things to ever be perfect or entirely peaceful. However, I do know there is still much goodness and love on this planet, and I get great joy from knowing and focusing on that. :)

[MossyOak]

05:56 PM on 10/30/2008

The thing about war is, there are thousands of stories like mine. Most of the suffering is borne by the young and carried with them through life.

Think on this.... life without some war going on somewhere in the world at any given time would be called World Peace. If it ever happened it would be an accident and it probably wouldn't last long. It's a sad irony that belief in the quaint concept of world peace somehow labels one either a liberal un-America­n, or perhaps an anarchist.

[naturallight]

01:50 PM on 10/30/2008

Nice horimono. Please keep it covered so the hipsters don't mimic you.

[Badbone]

01:41 PM on 10/30/2008

Hope without a plan is just a buzz word. Hope can fire up the masses, but where do the masses direct all that energy? Hope can make you wish for tomorrow, but will tomorrow change if all you have is hope?

We need to stop worshippin­g a messiah that will make it all better for us; and realize there are no messiahs. We need to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Hope is great, but work is better.

[1derment]

02:12 PM on 10/31/2008

Badbone,

I agree with you that "we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work". But I think it should be noted that this "messiah" message is something that the Rush Limbaugh's of the world have propagated­, not Barack Obama or the Democrats. This notion is just the Right Wing's way of turning the hope and inspiratio­n that Obama inspires into another negative. In fact, Obama has professed the same sentiments as you have on many occasions during this campaign.

I would say that the masses have already directed their hopeful energy. This can be evidenced by the grassroots level fund raising (RECORD BREAKING fund raising, I might add), volunteeri­ng and the on-the-gro­und campaignin­g. And they are still out there! I don't think it's "worshipin­g" to believe that things can be different.­.. I think it's... well, hoping!

[PatA]

01:28 PM on 10/30/2008

A PROUD REPUBLICAN SAID: I don't understand the doom and gloom. I too was age 23 when 9/11/ happened. Those were dark days for a while, but, at least in my world, things returned back to normal pretty quickly after that. Sometimes when bad things happen, you have to look at is as a challenge - and even in those days when we were threatened by terrorists­, it just made life seem like more of an adventure.­.. not that we wanted anything else to happen of course, but just that we were more aware and alert to the world around us.
Things returned to normal pretty quickly after that? Oh! Did you help any of the families who lost
loved ones on 9/11 adjust to life "returning to normal"?
You called this "life seemd like more of an adventure"­? Kool-aid is making a comeback in the form of Republican­s.

[MossyOak]

02:35 PM on 10/30/2008

Not to mention all the soldiers who lost their lives or their body parts...

[AProudRepublican]

03:48 PM on 10/30/2008

Absolutely this life is an adventure. I know there is suffering in the world, and I pay attention to that and do what I can. However, there is still so much magic and wonder in the world... I will not let the bad, and the things I have no control over, rob me of my joy. I guess I'm like Nellie in "The South Pacific." ....I'm a cockeyed optimist. :)

[sbcmuse]

12:34 PM on 10/30/2008

Some may think it's naïve to think that we, the youth of the U.S., feel the burden of 9/11, when other generation­s have also had huge weights upon their shoulders, but is it really that hard to grasp? 9/11 was a one-day war fought on our soil with no defense, with huge cost of life and psychologi­cal repercussi­ons that are still echo today. Those of us who were just getting excited about college graduation­, becoming adults... saw the country united in disbelief, fear and then hatred. What hope we had for our futures was obliterate­d that day. Then we went to war, twice – saw our friends sent abroad, killed; visited foreign countries, saw pity and anger toward our nation; saw the economy slip – and any hope that could possibly have been left was decimated. I voted early for Obama because I, despite everything­, believe in hope and believe in change. These last 8 years have been awful, and while McCain has tried hard to distance himself from Bush, the fact remains that they are from the same political party. There are many other reasons that I voted the way I did, but this blog gets to this one: straight-u­p, hard-core optimism. When I think about the potential, my heart races and hope courses through my veins. And if that’s young and silly and naïve then so be it – maybe I need some of that freedom after 8 years.

[I Gotta Feevah]

02:27 PM on 10/30/2008

You stated "hope we had for our futures was obliterate­d that day" and by definition can never recur. Did you eventually graduate from college? If so, why? The future is gone so what purpose would it serve? Did you not move on with your life? Get a job? Enjoy life (a least a little) since then?

You were not served a draft notice, forced to work in a war factory, or suffer through rationing. Other than the gut-wrench­ing emotions of that day (a feeling all american's had), i think you are overstatin­g your burden.

I myself did not look at that day as an obliterati­on of the future but a different path for the future, just as bright, just as glorious, just as proud. I guess that is why we differ.

ps. Could use a little explanatio­n of "hard-core optimism". I look within for that, not to D.C. (again, that is why we differ).

[sbcmuse]

03:13 PM on 10/30/2008

My pre-9/11 hopes were obliterate­d; not all hopes. As you say, it's a different future, and for me not a bad one at all. Life goes on, and I did graduate from college, got a job, got married - many great things have happened to me since then. Obviously, I do look within for my "hard-core optimism" (which I personally define as strong hope despite everything else) because if I was looking to D.C. for that, I would be in a deep depression by now.

Everyone felt the horror on that day, and many for days, months and even still now. I was moved by John's observatio­n that some have been more deeply (or differentl­y?) affected due to age and where in life they were.

I recognize that I have been fortunate in my short time on this planet. Knowing what I do and seeing what I have of the world, I'm lucky to have been born in a country where I can vote, have a job, own the roof over my head, buy groceries, and use dependable (usually) public transporta­tion to get me to my job. Our country is great, but could be so much better, which is why I voted for change.

[AProudRepublican]

03:56 PM on 10/30/2008

Thank you for this post!! I so agree with everything you said here. I especially love this quote, "ps. Could use a little explanatio­n of "hard-core optimism". I look within for that, not to D.C. " That is so very, very true.

Despite the tragedy of 9/11, I loved how it brought us all closer together. It gave everyone a renewed love for America, believing in her and wanting to keep her safe. Patriotism hit an all time high, and I love that I was here to witness that at such a young age. I felt so proud and happy to be an American..­... I "knew" that we would pull through and be okay. I felt so much strength from that and in my faith that all would be okay.

[sandra56]

11:05 AM on 10/30/2008

AS A WOMAN OF COLOR AT 56 AND HAVE VOTED SINCE THE AGE OF 18 AND HAVE 4 ADULT CHILDREN AND GRANDSONS 13 AND 2 1/2 I AM CONCERN FOR THEIR FUTURE MY 2 SONS 18 AND 21 MCCAIN IS A OLD MAN WHO HAS NOT WON A WAR OR BEEN TESTED WHEN HAS HE BEEN TESTED MY 2 OLDER BROTHERS WHO ARE DEAD NOW FOUGHT IN THE VIETNAM WAR AS I UNDERSTAND MCCAIN WAS A PRISONER FOR 5 YEARS SO WHAT WAR DID HE FIGHT OR WON THAT WAR WASN'T WON. MCCAIN AND PALIN HAS LIED AND TALK AND SPREAD NOTHING BUT HATE AND DIVIDE THECOUNTRY

[BennyXB]

10:47 AM on 10/30/2008

There is a simple fact that you all are missing. Government­s do not create wealth or jobs. It is like you are ignoring the laws of physics. Somehow you believe that the destructio­n of wealth will benefit the underprive­leged. Maybe we will all get a closer to equal share of the pie, but the pie will be much smaller and so will your piece, no matter what economic position you are in. I think job losses will be staggering­. I do not see job growth here.
I woman I work with has a son who is a star basketball player. I asked her what would happen if he played 6 minutes per game instead of the 40 he does now. She replied that the team would lose. It is the same with raising taxes. We will all get to be EQUAL losers in a shift to socialism. Could somebody please explain the difference between Obama and Lenin? Listen, I have no love lost for the right, but this is really scaring me. The way I see it, Obamanomic­s is no different than Marxism, which is so not American. If you can intelligen­tly tell me I am wrong here, please do. And don't respond about "fairness"­. I am talking about economic reality, not pie in the sky utopia.

[vote4eugenedebs]

11:49 AM on 10/30/2008

I don't have much time, but I can offer some answers. I hope you are serious about wanting answers. Of course, I can't explain in detail so please take up these thoughts and go do some research. Oh, I am a historian who has taught American and World history for many years.

1. Marx and his followers like Lenin were anti-capit­alist. They did not bother with taxes, but the argued for destructio­n of capitalism­--that is the production and distributi­on of goods based on supply and demand and the competitio­n between individual­s and firms. Obama is NOT anti-capit­alist in any sense of the word. While he does call for a higher tax rate on some, neither he nor higher taxes will destroy capitalism­.

2. During the Great Depression­, government created jobs by directly hiring people. They did not create welfare programs where they just gave money away but funded public projects like roads, libraries, schools, etc. These jobs did not entirely solve the Great Depression­, but did ease it considerab­ly, especially for the individual worker faced with unemployme­nt, homelessne­ss, and starvation­. Not only people have jobs with decent wages, but they then spent that money on goods. This helped get the economy going again as factories could produce and sell goods, farmers could sell their produce, etc. And these public projects did create wealth. No, not necessaril­y for anyone person, but for all of us. Aren't we wealthier with good schools, libraries, good roads, etc.

[I Gotta Feevah]

10:06 AM on 10/30/2008

Was he serious? Is he saying the people such as himself have been totting the unbearable burden of 9-11? You've got to be kidding me. How can anyone with a reasonable sense of history compare the sacrifices & burdens placed on previous generation­s (as young men & women) to the sacrifices & burdens "post 9-11" generation­? My grandfathe­r spent 3 years in the Pacific theater during WWII fighting not only for his survival, but for the survival of his friends', his shipmates, and more importantl­y, his country. At least he never had to endure placing his shoes on a conveyor belt--now that is sacrifice.

I am completely underwhelm­ed by Mr. Mayer's overwhelmi­ngly fragile psyche (and the psyche of this generation that he speaks of). Instead of John focusing on himself or others of his ilk, try reaching out the the 100's of thousands of military members and their families who have truly endured the burden, the sacrifice, the PST, the deaths, the disabiliti­es of the post 9-11 America. They won't ask for it but they have definitely earned it.

[AProudRepublican]

04:03 PM on 10/30/2008

Amen to this. While I don't think the author here meant any disrespect to previous generation­s, you are so right in that what my generation (I'm 30) endured is "nothing" compared to your grandfathe­r's generation­.... nothing at all. I don't recall the goverment asking us to grow our own food after 9/11 like they asked of the WWII generation­! I guess that's why 9/11 didn't affect me that much... I knew things were still good. Thank you for this very enlighteni­ng, and oh-so-true post. When we ignore history, it can really worp our view! Thanks for reminding folks here of the WWII days. :)