"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.
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You just put into words what I've had trouble saying for a long time.
Thank you.
BTW, I was 23 on that day as well. I know how you feel.
Yes. To imagine not being apologetic or ashamed. To imagine looking forward to the news of the day. To hope.
I was 37 in 2001. It was then that I realized that your music was lacking one thing...
More Cowbell.
Many of us poor, older and more vulnerable folks sure "hope" all hope is not gone. For many of us, the only thing that keeps us hanging on day to day is concern for the younger generations.
I just returned from checking in with some of the most vulnerable people I know... folks who officially fall off the unemployment rolls this week or worse. One dear woman I know has the following situation that I would love to share. She is a senior citizen, mentally disabled pretty severely whose only son died two years back. The state mental health services were the payees for her benefits to ensure that her bills necessary to basic survival were paid. Apparently, with all the cut-backs to funding and staff, it now comes to light that even these folks haven't been paying her bills. Her homeowners insurance was cancelled awhile back for nonpayment and this is just the beginning of a promising avalanche. She was informed they don't have the staff to find out where the funds went, what bills were and were not paid, etc. She wonders what the point is of even caring anymore but she hides herself away so as not to spread her despair to anyone else.
I certainly empathize the sentiments.
WTR/911 was really terrible, but so was Hiroshima. When I was a child, we practiced nuclear bomb drills..OK everybody under you desk! (as if that would save us). We were told to look for bomb shelter signs whenever we ventured out in public places. I remember, in grade school, wondering whether I really wanted to be saved, if my parents we obliterated while they were still at home. I also witnessed the turmoil and hatred that accompanied the Civil Rights movement. I was horrified to see how some Americans could mistreat other Americans. Very scary, life-altering events that left our future different than it would have been. Things get bad, then better, then bad again. Then occasionally a truly great thing happens. FDR gets elected. Nelson Mandela is freed.
But, I know how you feel. Obama is one of the great opportunities. We need hope now, more than we have in a very long time.
Obama/Biden 08
Well put, Mr.Mayer.
My heart goes out to the young people - all around the world. It is a gut punch to think there is a possibility one may have to live the expanse left in front of them under a government one does not agree with. Thanks for you heartfelt commentary, it will strike a chord with those of your same age. Lucky for you, John, there is a way to find out what life was like before and what is going on behind the curtain today. And that way is to question. And then question some more. Our textbooks, both in high school and college, are filled with lies, mostly lies of ommision. Study Obama. Read both sides - pro and con. Don't just go on rhetoric - "we need change" sort of stuff. It is only words and emotive phrases. Find out who his backers are. Read both sides about them. Discern. If we do that with them all - from your senator on up, you will uncover an amazing amount of information. The more information, the better your decision making skiils. They are all the same at the top. Someone (behind the curtain) controls them all. Think, discern, study. Forget the words and promises. Remember, there are no consequences for any candidate to suffer if they do not fulfill their campaign promises.
Thanks for this.
I'm 24, and was 17 on 9/11. In my nascent adult life, hopelessness has been a leitmotif. My resignation to the fact that we're all going to hell in a handbasket has been consistent. The song that best represents my adult mood has been "Masters of War" by Bob Dylan. Telling theme song, no? The most poignant line from the song, for me, has to do with being afraid to bring children into the world. Because let's face it, it's a scary world - or so we've been told.
But Barack Obama provides respite from this despair. There's so much goodness left in the world that can be salvaged, and it must be salvaged. But we must start by changing horses, and shooting our old horse and turning it into glue.
If Barack is elected on Tuesday, I will retire my theme song and reconsider my stance on procreation.
I am in my 60's now. I remember where I was when JFK was killed, also MLK, RFK, and the freedom riders too. I have experienced that deep depression, feeling so powerless to make things better, to make a change.
Now I am having a conversation with my 18 year old grandson, attempting to give him the historic perspective that makes this election so profoundly important.
At long last, I believe that the vision of the Kennedy's, Martin Luther King and all who fought to bring civil rights to the forefront will be realized! Obama is our hope to bring this vision to fruition!
Thanks, John! A beautifully written article! I look forward to more from you!
OBAMA/BIDEN '08
I was 15 years old on 9/11 so about 1/3 of my life has been lived in a post 9/11 world. And it has been scary, depressing, and unnerving. I'm pretty sure I've been on edge since I was a teenager and the Bush years have turned out to be an even bigger nightmare than I imagined. PLEASE, PLEASE, young people go out and vote for Obama. We cannot afford 4 more years of the craptastic last 8 years. We need to win this so we can undo the mess Bush has created. VOTE.
I'm 46 and have two children ages 19 and 23. We all love your music which is a huge accomplishment for anyone to achieve. Your comments about 9/11 and the impact it had on your life is probably an accurate description of how many people in your age group felt at the time. That moment in history changed life as we knew it in the United States.
I sincerely hope that we can look back in four years and see the kind of positive change that many Americans are hoping for. I have to say that I am less optimistic than most that post here at Huffington. I hope that the concerns that I have about him are proven wrong and that Barack Obama is truly the kind of person that will bring our nation to a better place.
Good points John. I'm 23 years old, and vividly remember being 16 and watching 9/11 unfold on the TV screen, thinking about many of the points that you brought up. From that day, continuing throughout the W presidency all I've heard is bad news. When Barack burst onto the scene, extolling the virtues of Hope it makes me feel good. And contrary to what many are saying, my generation doesn't look at Obama and see someone who will solve all our problems. No, when we see Obama we see someone who is asking us do better for ourselves and for our country, and in this globalized era, the world. We see Obama and we see our chance to take our place in history. McCain may be from the "Greatest Generation" but my generation, the generation which Obama has mobilized in this election, will face some of the greatest challenges EVER. And Obama gives us the hope that we, no matter what the outcome of this election, can and will overcome the hurdles ahead.
You Go Obama..tel
Chameleon59 I thought your post should have been added to the end of the article beautiful depiction of what Obama has done thus far. He has delivered the change he promised. People are complaning about the visciral nature of the compain but that has always been apart of our politics and in this elections is much more tampered down than in previous elections. John McCain has not cursed into the mic on purpose in my opinion the way Bush did of Al Gore. No one has created a fictious account of Obama ingauging in suspecious acts and the Wright incident has not been the big republican attack thought to believe it would be. The Democratic party is no longer taking pac money which is a huge change from past operationing election cycles. He has changed the political landscape forever in respect to fundrasing, interests group influence, and the political map in respect to the electoral college itself.
I'm touched - honestly and sincerely touched. Thank you. I've been trying to formulate that for weeks, every time I hear someone deride all us Obama-bots for believing all his campaign promises. They just don't get it. My 16 year old broke my heart a few days ago when he remarked that he keeps hearing how the world has changed since 9/11 - he doesn't see any difference. It made me realize that he can't see a difference because he has never lived in a world that was free of that rising fear and despair, the fear and despair that had sane, rational men whom I love and trust arguing in favor of -torture-. That rocked me to my core. I'm voting for Obama for the sake of my children. They deserve a president that cares about their world.
Well written and timely. I will be 50 soon and have noticed several remarkable attitudes that my children embrace. They truly believe they are their brother's keeper. They are extremely charitable. There is not a racist bone in their body. In fact, they have never ever referred to a friend or another person as "a black guy" or and "asian girl". They have a very optimistic and unselfish view of the world. All of this without the dogma of organized Religion, hatred, or jealousy of others. I'd like to think this is all because of the influence of their mother and me, and some of it is, but this generation is more tolerant, smarter and believes that for them to succeed, those around them must also. Obama is delivering a message they can ethusiastically relate to. I am proud that my kids get it.
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