Newgyptian--now with comments!
November 06, 2004
Well, this is mostly just to address some things that have been brought up in the guestbook. But first, note that I have added comments to my diary! Now you can leave your opinions on relevant entries�I hope it works.
First, Philly Fan asked if my last entry implied that I was planning to come back to the US soon. Why, yes, it does. Mini and pretty much all other friends here are applying for grad school in the US for next Fall. The movement has become so widespread that we have jokingly dubbed it �Exodus 2005.� While, I actually don�t think I will be part of that mass exodus, I do hope to be back in the US sometime towards the end of 2005 or early 2006. First though I have some personal things I want to attend to here.
Second, if anyone wants to better understand the different emotions I�ve been going through lately, post-election, then click on that link to the right, and check out Yibba�s last few entries. It�s interesting, because as Yibba says, these last elections I think have intensified the concept of alienation in American society. What with everyone (jokingly? Not?) talking about secession and civil war, I think people are beginning to understand a concept that has long-pervaded Arabic literature and intellectual thought�feeling disconnected from a society and culture that is your own. Oddly enough, I have never felt more American in my life. In fact, this feeling of Americanness that has developed within me, has become increasingly more intense since September 11th. Please don�t confuse this with pride in being American, or shame in being a Muslim-raised Arab. Pride in being anything is too close to nationalism for me (a concept I am trying to rid myself of). No, I simply feel more connected with certain aspects of what it �means� to be �American� than I ever have in my short life. That�s all I�m saying there.
All this ties in greatly to my personal feelings on identity which I started addressing a few weeks ago, but which I am too lazy to continue addressing now. Let�s just say, I am feeling very solidly Arab-American lately, and I�m really comfortable with that.
Finally, to Jing. Now is definitely not the time to abandon ship. This fight hasn�t even begun yet, for us to be saying it�s over, let�s get out while we can. We have hit one really big, stupid bump in the road. If we give up now, then the terrorists have already won. Haha. Okay, no seriously, if we give up now then we don�t deserve to be involved in the process anyway. What I�m saying is�wait till the next election, and don�t look at who won or lost, but how the game was played. If close-minded conservatives end up ruling the country for the next few decades then we�ve got problems, but I don�t think it�s whose in power that should concern us as much as who is putting these guys in power. If we are to (naively?) continue believing that in a democracy the power does lie with the people, then we should focus on what the people are saying. This election, a lot of the people were still saying that they believe in freedom and not fear, equality and not selectivity. Sure, a few MORE people were saying that they believe in all that other stuff, and they believe in the improvements of truth that they have been fed for the past few years, but it isn�t all bad.
At the risk of alienating a few of my readers, I think Michael Moore said it well in his posting 17 Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists:
Reason no. 16:There are nearly 300 million Americans -- 200 million of them of voting age. We only lost by three and a half million! That's not a landslide -- it means we're almost there. Imagine losing by 20 million. If you had 58 yards to go before you reached the goal line and then you barreled down 55 of those yards, would you stop on the three yard line, pick up the ball and go home crying -- especially when you get to start the next down on the three yard line? Of course not! Buck up! Have hope! More sports analogies are coming!!!
So Jing and others, buck up! Do not abandon ship. But, if you�d like a short break from weighty matters, come visit me in a country where, apparently, nothing that happens ever matters anyway.