I usually avoid the topics everyone else is discussing.  I like to see myself as a person who lives in an emotional and intellectual space that is a bit independent from current events. So what am I to say about Obama's victory?

Whether because of skin color, ideology, faith (or lack thereof), nationality, or sexual orientation, so many of us have grown used to self-identifying as "outsiders".  Perhaps I, like so many others who identify as being outside the mainstream, have actually become quite comfortable living in that space.  As difficult as it is to live on the social fringes, there is comfort to be found in pointing blame at an obvious "oppressor".  In so doing, we are able to avoid a degree of responsibility and burden.  We are comfortable in a space where we suspect that all that is wrong with the world is not our fault.

Perhaps it is human nature to scapegoat other groups: Christians blame the world's problems on "non-believers", conservatives scapegoat liberals for their own failed attempts at governing.  It is well-known that "the majority" in any population tends to scapegoat "the minority" for it's perceived problems, but perhaps I've forgotten that it can also work the other way around.

That isn't to say that the Neocon rule of George Bush and the Republican Party over the past several decades, and particularly the past 8 years, hasn't done every bit as much damage as we accuse it of having done.  Through a toxic combination of greed and incompetence, these people...this misguided movement...has done immeasurable damage to countless people around the world -- to the very earth we all depend upon.  Pointing a finger at them, hating them, laughing at them, and calling for revenge has felt quite good and right, indeed.

But on November 4th, something changed.  The powerless seized a meaningful amount of power.  The oppressed took the position of its former-oppressor.  Obama is just one man, but his election represents so much more.

By getting Obama elected, we have raised our hands and stepped up to the challenge.  It will no longer be enough to point fingers and complain.  Now the blame is heading squarely in our direction and we will have to show the world exactly what Progressivism, Justice, Openness, and Sustainability look like in practice.  We finally have the opportunity to prove the value of our ideas, to measure the extent of our correctness, in the world as it actually exists!

All that said, I don't doubt that we do have the superior ideas and skills.  I don't doubt that we are more capable of providing the leadership the world needs at this time and into the forseeable future.  I just mean to say that I am adjusting to the weightiness of the responsibility brought forth by this new era.