Vox-Nova is beset by politics. For some reason, certain people seem to care more about what the writers do politically (i.e. vote) then what they think on the matter. Although the two are not in any way unrelated (indeed the connection is quite important, I think), I would venture to say that, for the harshest critics, if all the Vox-Nova contributors had voted for McCain they would have significantly fewer problems with what they seem to say on topics like peace and justice, economics, religion and so on. This being the case, I think I should let you know what kind of political beast has been added to this blog who some Catholics brothers and sisters have, in a fit of charity, affectionately nicknamed “proabort.”
First let me be clear: I am not a donkey or an elephant. I have never voted for either party at the national level, ever. Although I have not, I am not completely closed to the idea, depending on the candidate. I do hold every major party candidate in extremely high suspicion, since, after all, you don’t just “get there” without submitting in some way to their deeply corrupt culture, as I see it.
So, I would be most comfortable to use Judith Butler’s notion of identity regarding my political self. Call me a somesuch. But I know that this obscurity is frustrating. I also know that my other term of preference, Catholic, is also too mischievous and would begin another tired rally of bickering over “Who gets to be Catholic?” As far as political parties go, the only one I know of that I would think about joining was reported here a few weeks ago: the solidarity party of Spain. But, I am not a Spanish citizen.
So I seem to be stuck. Here is something that I am sure of: I am cranky. Yes, I am cranky about politics because I am a crank about lots of its predecessors in modernity. The empire of modern science, the cult of technological innovation, the monopolies of modern security states, the servitude to modern industry, and the fact that I am not the exception, I am in it, I am part of the problem as I type on the new idol of modernity after the television, the computer.
Yet, my crankiness comes in handy from time to time. You see, I feel no need to express allegiance to, celebrate or carry-on about any of our Presidents. To be vulgar about it, I think that the line up we’ve had over the past few decades have all sucked. The only guy I seem to not dislike is Ford, but I still think pardoning Nixon was the wrong thing to do.
Call my cynical, but, I do not see Obama as a particularly good thing for America right now. To me, he is a band aid and a warm blanket that makes me feel better after getting the poop kicked out of me for sixteen years of the worst presidents we’ve had in a while (Clinton and Bush II we’re just off the charts awful, in my mind), but, the problem is that blood is soaking through the banadages and we think we’ve been healed!
Obama is a pragmatist in the worst sense. He is the brand of pragmatism that Richard Rorty and Cornel West conjured up on the undeserving backs of William James and John Dewey. He is the kind of pragmatism that enables us to “do are best” and not try to change the world.
He is emblematic of the creed that will not allow demilitarization, ending abortion without criminalizing women, denuclearization, and the abolition of material and nutritional poverty to become possible realities, even thinkable ones in any serious way.
I oppose Obama as I opposed Bush II, Clinton, and even Bush I when all I knew was that is was really scary to cross the border of Mexico during the first Gulf War because men with guns took my orange at customs. I always vote and sometime that means staying at home because there is no authentic suffrage to be had at the polls.
This past election I was stuck, so, I voted for Brian Moore, the Socialist Party candidate, to help them try and get some funding and say that this country could use a socialist party or labour party a la Britain. I might be something of a socialist, but I am no Marxist, not even close.
When people call me a cynic and a crank, I usually smile and say something like: “You’re right, but I’m Catholic, so, make no mistake, I am full of hope, joy, and love. And when I forget about that, I see Jesus in my little boys’ smiles and I weep for all the bittersweet reasons there are to weep at a time such as this.”
I guess that’s my politics. Oh, ya, and I am a sinner (and a really good one), and I constantly think this political vision is all wrong and I should start over, but I never seem to get to doing that exactly. Peace.
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