Should we be happy about the election results?
Congratulations to Joe Biden! It seems everybody on social media is thrilled about Joe Biden having won the US elections. Apparently our kids have a future once again and the soul of America will be restored. History has been written! Of course, congratulations are in order, but aren’t we being too generous with the superlatives? Don’t we put too much faith in politicians and government? Have we really become that dependent on outside forces, on authority, for our happiness?
I find that thought to be a bit distressing to be honest. If after 8 years of Obama –who was going to change everything, bring peace, and provide a wonderful future for our children– it only took 4 years of Trump to completely wipe out those accomplishments and then some, what does that tell us about ourselves as human beings?
The soul of America or of any society should come from the people who make up that society, not from politicians or the government. This comes to show once again how politicians and the media have indoctrinated us into thinking that all the good must necessarily come from or be provided by government or some other outside ‘authority’.
This top-down way of thinking is exactly the reverse of what makes a society. I believe a society is built from the ground up. It’s the members of a society who in their interactions with and attitudes toward one another determine the soul of that society. So it are individuals through their choice of behavior that determine the state of affairs of the society they participate in. A government cannot order a person how to feel. Many seem to think otherwise, laying all their hopes for a better future in the hands of government, not realizing that the future –for themselves and/or for their kids– lies with them.
We could have had a thriving society under a Trump presidency just as much as under an Obama presidency or any other president for that matter. Again, it is not government that determines the soul of a society. We do, as active participants in that society. A government is elected from the members of the society, not to change it but to uphold and protect its values. And just as we cannot count on government to dictate how we should feel or ultimately behave, we cannot blame government for everything that goes wrong in society either.
However, as I witness the reactions and celebrations, it does seem that we have outsourced to government or politicians the way we should feel and behave toward our fellow men. Moreover, at every new election those feelings and attitudes are apparently up for grabs. Are we really that malleable and programmable? Do we not think more highly of ourselves? Do we not dare to think and act for ourselves anymore?
How much of a civilized society are we really if we depend so much on government regulations and prescriptions to act civilized? More government interference in daily life is — in my opinion — not a sign of increased civilization. Rather, to me it is a sign we are not civilized enough to depend on our own judgments to build a society with a soul, one we’re proud to be a part of and where we and our children can thrive, independent of who happens to be in office.
To conclude on a positive note, I believe we have much more power than we give ourselves credit for and that we should reclaim that power. As members of communities we are able to make a change without having to rely on outside authorities of any kind. As a collective, no matter which country we are from, we can build a thriving (global) society. We only need to recognize our power and not shy away from it. I sincerely hope we don’t have to put our faith in the hands of politicians to (re)build a humane and kindhearted society.
