Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Change Anyone?

It’s depressing noting that questions are flying in all cylinders, from all quarters. No, it isn’t by the virtue of the questions itself that is responsible for my seamlessly bleak reproach, but the quality of the questions being asked. It is just horrifying!

The latest presidential primary race is one fine example, in where the tenacious race between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama has reared its ugly head and has descended into a whirlwind fracas over race and gender. Obviously, some things just remain the same in the midst of all the invocation for change ringing throughout political circles.

Indeed, having a first woman president or a first black man as the president of the worlds’ greatest democracy signifies a change in outlook of the electorate. But remember the old adage that ‘they just come in different shades and sizes, but are one and the same’? Hopping on the ‘change’ bandwagon by virtue of an object coming in a different shade does not represent a fundamental change, for the object is still one and the same.

It is this phenomenon we should be concerned about and for a change, question its roots. The world has gotten tired of eight years of non-conservative war mongering and fiscal ineptness, and we need ‘change’. But who represents this change? While I am tempted to make a qualitative judgment, I shall refrain from doing so for a change.

However, I think for a change, we could construct a logical equation. Can we expect a system that has churned out a man like George Bush as president be any effective in being an instrument for change? I think not. Although American democracy is the shining beacon for all of civilization, Bush V Gore is the nothing to shine about.

The talk of Michael Bloomberg running as a third party candidate is a breath of fresh air. Although many critics point out Bloombergs’ credentials as a technocrat and as such has the corporations interest at heart, a strong third party candidate will certainly break the partisan deadlock that exists today and bring much needed galvanization to government.

Even if Bloomberg’s candidacy results in failure, his potential attraction to independent voters and moderate democrats and republicans is enough to alter the landscape of American politik permanently. That would certainly be a change and if we start questioning and discerning from there on, maybe we can get that much needed change as to how we all do business.

The writer is a maniac obsessed with change that he has ridden all his under garments and can't make up whether he is for stripes or poker dots and is currently seeking enlightenment and guidance for the matter. Maybe Hillary's conviction will do the trick?