A message to Imaginary America.

Posted by Kate G. in US Election 2008.

Okay, so everyone’s up in arms about this whole “Real America” thing, as they rightly should be. It’s awful that they’re calling racists who pretty much want this country run by a Christian theocracy the “real” Americans. I guess that makes the rest of us imaginary.

I know exactly what the Republican party is doing: inciting nationalism against members of their own nation, claiming those who disagree with their radical policies are anti-country, pointing fingers so no one looks at what they’re really saying. Reeeeal creative, John. We haven’t seen this move from any country, ever. Especially not Germany, or anything.

And while I’m angry about it, I can’t help thinking they’re right. Not about dissent being anti-America, but about the true nature of a lot of this country.

Maybe the “real” America is racist and paranoid. Maybe we really are still stuck in the time of Jim Crow. Maybe most of this country still thinks Iraq had something to do with 9/11. Maybe most of us still get scared when we see someone who looks Middle Eastern (or Indian or East Asian) on our plane.

You see, we liberals have had to create our own little “bubbles” over the past eight years; it’s possible that our little left-leaning biospheres have evolved away from the rest of America, making our ideals seem more-or-less “imaginary” to people who voted for Bush and people who will vote for the current joke of a Republican ticket. Because we’ve invented our own little societies of tolerance, charity and progressive thinking and washed our hands of those whose values don’t align with ours, maybe we’ve lost touch with what “real” America was and still is.

So, what do we do? Two choices seem inevitable to me.

1. Imaginary America secedes from Real America…possibly to be annexed by Canada. Not realistic, but one can hope.

2. We pop our “liberal bubbles” and take some responsibility.  We can’t just give up on the insecure, misinformed members of our country. We can no longer afford to write them off as a caricature of America; their ignorance is gaining worldwide attention, and the Republican campaign is validating their existence every day.

We know it won’t be they who move the country forward. We know that “Hey, I didn’t vote for him” will only fly as a redeeming quality for so long before the world begins to wonder why we aren’t doing something about the people who did. We know the Republicans are allergic to responsibility, so it’ll have to be us.

So next time you cross the border into “Real” America and have a conversation with someone who is a “Real” American, don’t squabble. Don’t pick a fight to prove they’re less-informed than you; I know, that’s hard not to do…for me, at least. Instead, ask questions (carefully; conservatives are easily offended). Set an example of tolerance and respect for someone else’s ideas; we know they were never taught this skill.

Then, maybe, they’ll listen to you. Maybe you’ll have the floor for a minute. Ask them what’s “pro-America” about voter fraud, cutting women’s rights,  killing more men and women in war and effectively annihilating good healthcare. Ask them what is “anti-America” about helping out the middle class, freeing us from debt and oil dependence, increasing aid to our schools and college students.

Start the conversation. Start the closing of the gap between real and imaginary in this country. Because if you and I don’t, then who will?

US Election 2008 |