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Change and the road ahead

Panel on the 2008 election addresses critical issues facing the country

I HAD THE pleasure of attending the “Now What?” discussion panel Monday evening where a group of professors and students had an extended dialogue about the implications of the 2008 election. Almost everything imaginable was discussed by the attendees, from topics dealing with race and class to the economic and military decisions that could come now that the Democrats have both a firm majority in Congress and the presidency in hand. After the conversation had finished, it was clear that while this may have been a “change” election, the question now is how to bring about the changes this country needs socially, economically and militarily.

In essence, the panel started with the relationship of Barack Obama’s victory and the social direction of this country. What that boiled down to was a question of whether or not Obama’s win can be seen as a collective story or an individual narrative. Is racism on the way out? Is affirmative action, an area of debate that came up immediately, going to go out the window soon? I found myself agreeing with the argument that Obama’s victory came as an impressive candidate who happened to be black, that his win should not be seen as tremendous evidence that we are closer to achieving social equality in this country. Among the students in the crowd it was clear that some see this election’s result as evidence that we can look forward to affirmative action’s demise in the near future. However, U.S. Census data shows a quarter of the blacks in the country and only a slightly smaller percentage of Hispanics live in poverty. Just because a black man has won himself a place at the “pinnacle of politics” does not mean there is no more work to be done.

Considering it was the vital issue in 2008, the economy was the next topic of exploration. Obama’s class support was debated, principally through the data dealing with who donated to his campaign. A strong part of the fund-raising story has been the large number of small-money donors who gave to his campaign. However, just as many if not more Wall Street-types were giving to Obama’s campaign as McCain’s, which reflects the exit polling data that showed Obama winning the vote of 52 percent of those making over $200,000, a similar figure to the $75,000-$100,000 group. This led into a discussion of the middle class ideal in the U.S. and how Obama consistently talked about that group of people, one that 91 percent of the population believes, rightly or wrongly, they belong to. As so many consider themselves middle class, Obama’s position on economic regulation won over many. John McCain’s talk about “socialism” and “spreading the wealth” failed because many Americans felt that the CEOs of this country can pay more, with their golden parachutes from failed ventures that helped lead the economy astray. Obama became the stabilizing choice in this election, enough so that there was a 17 percent increase in the number of people making over $200,000 who voted for Obama compared to Kerry four years ago.

The forum ended with discussion on the military and service. It began with questions about Obama’s focus on Afghanistan in the War on Terror, which most agreed we should have been fully targeting in the first place. During this segment came the most eventful occurrence of the night when a young veteran attending the University had a problem with the usage of “we” when discussing where to send American troops next. In a room full of middle-class students and academics, it definitely made everyone consider the fact that this nation is fighting two conflicts on the other side of the world, yet for so many they barely resonate because the vast majority of us have little or no connection to the military. As the veteran pointed out, most of the people in his unit came from working-class or impoverished households and that debating where “we” should send the troops is a completely ridiculous way of putting it. Very few members of the decision-making elite in this country have anything personal at stake in Iraq or Afghanistan as only a few have children fighting. The volunteer army has suffered the same fate as the one created by the draft as it is largely made up of the nation’s poorest citizens. In the end, the consensus was that service to one’s country hasn’t been given enough importance. Moreover, if the decision to invade Iraq hadn’t been so divisive, perhaps our country would feel a deeper connection to the conflict and better appreciate what it means when “we” send our armed forces out to fight.

Hopefully, there can be more positive discussions on the future of the United States like the one I attended Monday evening. The more engaged we become as citizens on the issues facing this nation, the better we can understand how to improve this great country of ours.

Geoff Skelley’s column usually runs Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at g.skelley@cavalierdaily.com.

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