%title To my friends
%date 2008-11-05 21:07:23
:diary:livejournal:fossils:

With yesterday's election I watched several of you celebrate victory and several of you mourn in defeat. For many, the election brought mixed feelings, and I know that I struggle with some of my own. However, my heart ached with despair most when I watched many immediately withdraw into yourselves.

For those whom the election did not favor, I watched many of you resign yourselves to the decisions of others: some gave way weakly and some backed into their corner with teeth bared, their defeat feeding the fuel of their passive-aggressive response.

Many of those whom the election favored I watched celebrate, comfortable in your victories. Some of you relaxed as if your work was forever finished, and some of you gloated among your friends or over your opponents.

However, victors and defeated, I watched nearly all of you stop, and this broke my heart. I was disappointed to watch so many of my dear friends act in a way completely counter not only to democracy in America but to human nature itself.  Humanity does not stop, and neither should a government of humanity.

If you feel loss after this election, please, for me, for you, and for all in this country, do not fall victim to short sightedness in your loss. Mourn, yes, but seek the change, the rights, the laws you were denied, no matter what they are, because our individuality is what most strongly unites us as a people.

If you are celebrating after this election, please, for humanity's sake, do not stop. Acknowledge your victories, yes, but never let anything stop you from trying to make this a better world no matter how you are able, because our drive to improve is what will make this world great through the ages to come.

This American election was stressful for us all, Americans and otherwise, but it is just a moment in time, and time will never stop. Let us look back and say that we weathered the surge of politics and moved on, ever seeking to make the world a better place for ourselves, our friends and families, and for everyone in it for eons to come.

(It's written like a speech because I was going to check out one of the library's MacBooks and make a YouTube video, but someone stole one of them Friday and the police have requested we put a hold on them for a while, so take it in its context.)