I've mentioned before about how it's not exactly enjoyable for me to keep myself abreast of political happenings in the world. I want to be informed, I just don't like investing the time it takes to always be informed. And if my political knowledge now is only moderately embarrassing, when I was younger it was abysmal. It took until Bush ran for President the first time for me to pay any attention to politics at all. I was one of those teenagers and young adults who felt that one politician was as bad as the next, and it really didn't matter who was in office. I felt not only that my vote didn't count, but that it didn't matter if it counted or not. Even though I was self-proclaimed ignorant of all things political and really happy to stay in the dark, I knew immediately how bad it was that W was running for office. It didn't take any political knowledge to recognize the bumbling idiot running as the bobble head of the Republican party, who would be nothing more than an easily controlled pawn by the richest of Americans who were helping finance his campaign.
So it's not surprising that reading books and watching movies that focus on the political happenings of the eighties and early nineties can be a bit eye opening for me. Our book club read A Thousand Splendid Suns this past month. In the several years we've been a book club, it's easily one of our favorites. To get a perspective on what it has been like to live in Afghanistan, especially for women, for the past couple of decades, it's very moving. I mean, you know what's going on over there. You see it in the news and read it in the paper, but sometimes that can just be desensitizing. To really have an author bring you in and make you feel what it's like to be a woman in Afghanistan, it's something much more real.
I also recently watched Charlie Wilson's War, and Blackstone was horrified to realize I didn't know we'd supplied the Taliban with weaponry to fight the Cold War against Russia. Again, I force myself to pay attention to politics now, in my teens and early twenties, I wasn't even trying. I admit my ignorance. I'm trying to rectify that one news article at a time. Honestly, politically savvy or not, great movie. You don't have to love the History channel to enjoy it, but even if you do, I bet you still love it. The idea of rich Texans pulling the political strings behind a war, somehow I think that's all too close to the truth of how much of this stuff goes down.
I'm thrilled to say I went and voted today. I won't be able to sleep until they call the election tonight. I may never sleep again if McCain wins. Well, I probably will, but I'll need to be heavilymedicated and it will be riddled with nightmares. Thankfully, for the first time in eight years it looks like my prayers may actually be answered.
I think keeping up with politics and international events is more difficult in the US. We are a celebrity obssessed culture and we hear more about Brad and Angelina than we do about the Middle East, N. Korea, or Sudan. I am also going to try to make an effort to be better informed. I also agree that our last months book club selection was eye opening as to what was going on in the world while I was deciding what club to go to. I hope the excitement and engagement in American politics continues under Obama. Lets try to keep each other informed!
Posted by: Curls | November 06, 2008 at 05:18 PM