Last week, I began noticing a few trees with leaves of red or gold, though the countryside still looked green. But each day since, I have been paying special attention to the panorama as I drive here and there with life’s routine tasks. And each day, there is more red, gold, and orange dotting the hills in the distance, lining the roadside. There are fields full of goldenrod, another sure sign of fall. Temperatures are falling; we’re to expect temperatures near freezing tonight. We’ve turned on the heat in our house, and begun wearing sweaters over our clothes. Two weeks ago, I regretted summer’s passing; now I anticipate the colors of fall.
More gripping this year than these environmental changes is the political climate. We approach another presidential election; this time Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will duke it out. It seemed close earlier; I take solace in the encouraging signs that Obama is gaining ground. I dread the thought that Romney might win (bringing on a real, allegorical winter [hmmm, is it possible to be real and allegorical at once?]). He has an outdated (and to my mind, peculiar) view of the world, one where industry reigns beneficently somehow (without any regulation, no balance of power that I can imagine, based on his words—setting aside the infinite malleability of his voiced opinions). He was once a ‘moderate conservative’, one whose views I could at least understand, if not share. Now, he has moved dramatically to the right…Women, he says (who knows what he really thinks?), should not have the right to control their own bodies; men (or women) of the same sex who love each other should not be allowed to marry; social security seems up for grabs; the old, the infirm, the handicapped, and the unemployed must fend totally for themselves—or so it seems.
One of America’s strengths, besides the egalitarian ideals we have long touted, has been the independence and security that our government’s Social Security program and—perhaps even more these days—Medicare, have granted to the elderly. These programs have relieved the young of many (certainly not all) burdensome responsibilities and have allowed those of us beyond wage-earning capability to rest easy that our basic needs would be fulfilled without hamstringing our children. Those, like myself, who have lived in other countries where such assurances are not provided, know what uncertainty about eldercare means for the young and the old. Even the unborn are affected—as parents feel compelled to produce more children than they’d prefer, in order to ensure the availability of offspring who can and will care for them in old age. The avoided worry and anxiety that these governmental programs provide for the elderly is impossible to quantify; it is immeasurable.
And what of the ‘pro-life’ emphasis Romney espouses? What of the women whose rapes result in pregnancies [and there are many, contrary to Senator Akin’s peculiar notions about women’s inherent reproductive control]? What of the young women who lack the maturity to moderate their sexuality? [I recently read my own diaries from my teen years and was astounded at my own forgotten preoccupation with sex, the strength and self-control I had to bring to bear to avoid sexual intercourse—-and I had a privileged youth, with caring parents who supported me. What of the many young innocents who lack these advantages?] What of the bright young women, continuing their education or already embarked on a promising career, who have a momentary lapse of judgment and foolishly (or through contraceptive failure) become pregnant? Does it really make societal sense to ruin their lives, to deny them life’s fullest opportunities by saddling them with an unwanted child? Is the potential contribution of the unborn really greater than the well-advanced potential of an adult woman? I don’t think so. I remember the human investments made by that woman’s family in her own childhood and youth, her likely integration into a social network, with others who will be adversely affected by the tragic loss of her dreams for the future, of the overall societal investment in her that, if not lost, at least will bear far less fruit than it could have. The ‘pro-life’ rant is decidedly anti-life, from my point of view.
I’ve seen the lives of young women, pregnant early, in the US and elsewhere. Burdened by an unplanned, sometimes unwanted child, both the woman and the child can suffer—-the woman (perhaps as young as 12 or 13) cannot complete her education or fulfill her potential; and the child may suffer from resentments (overt or unrecognized), from the foolishness of an uneducated mother (and perhaps that of a young, unwilling, uneducated father as well), even from abandonment. Isn’t it better for society to look after these mothers and their children, ensure better opportunities for them both, to create better family situations and to contribute more fully to society—whether the mothers opt for childbirth or (usually most reluctantly) for abortion?
Taking care of those in need strengthens society, and liberates people to engage economically (as Romney so values—perhaps even to ‘compete’, to strive for the wealth and independence he wants us all to seek). I believe Obama also wants people to be free to seek whatever wealth they desire and to be independent, but he also understands the concerns of the less advantaged, and he cares about those in need. His mother, my friend, was a caring person, concerned about the inequities we all see even more starkly now than while she lived; I have no doubt she passed those concerns along to both her children. I hope this fall brings, besides the beauty of New England’s fall colors, a sound electoral victory, both for Obama as president, and for a supportive Congress—both the Senate and the House—so he can move forward with a program that recognizes people’s needs, distributes the American (dare I say global?) pie more equitably, and provides the safety net so many need right now. A second term, particularly with a less obstructionist Congress, will move us ‘forward’ (as the Democratic slogan promises). But, even more vitally perhaps, it will also protect some of the crucial ‘entitlements’ and rights that have meant so much to Americans over the past decades. If we want women to continue to be able to contribute to global (and national) productivity and creativity, we need to protect women’s rights to control our own bodies. If we want the young to be free to make similar contributions, we need to protect them from the sole and draining responsibility to care for their (now much longer-lived) parents and grandparents. If we want old people to continue to contribute informally as many now do, we need to provide them with the financial security to do so. Let Obama carry out his vision. It’s a worthy one.
And bring on the fall colors—-hopefully as vibrant and beautiful as my hopes for a benign US future under Obama’s leadership.
[He’ll be a helluva a lot better internationally as well (though that’s another discussion).]