Tennysonian Thoughts

[poliphilo]

The Sussex Downs are a range of low chalk hills running parallel to the English Channel. I went to school at Lancing College- a nineteenth century foundation that nestles in a fold of them. Depending on your politics and aesthetic sense, it's either a neo-gothic gem or a carbuncle.

It educated mid-level functionaries and soldiers for service in the British Empire- and lots and lots of priests. Also Evelyn Waugh and- so recently that I remember him as a nervy, god-like prefect- the leftist playwright David Hare.

The Downs above Lancing are a great place for thinking big thoughts. The wind blows hard. On a clear day you can see beyond Brighton to the Seven Sisters- the great white cliffs that defied Napoleon. And the sea is simply huge.

Over there, among the trees, the Romans had a temple. Some 19th century landowner planted the trees. He planted them in a clump or "ring" because he thought it looked "druidic". In the mid-twentieth century a coven of witches used to hold their meetings there.

Like I said- a great place for thinking Big Thoughts.

Teen-age thoughts.

And one of mine was that we needed a World Government. No more disputes among nations, no more war but, in stirring Tennysonese, "the Parliament of Man, the Federation of the World."

O lucky me- forty years on my wish has come true. We have our World Government. It's called the Government of the United States of America.

What happens today in the Presidential election is of far greater importance to me- and the rest of us islanders and, indeed, the bulk of the world's population- than anything that might transpire in our cute and quaint little national elections.

And dammit, I don't have a vote.

I'm not wingeing. Not really. I can see the advantages of the present arrangement as well as the drawbacks. Maybe this is a first step on the way to a World Government- something I still believe in (I think).

We'll get there, we'll get there. It's a steep old path.

You know what an optimist I am.

Meanwhile, O citizens of the New Rome, enjoy your privilege and use it wisely.

Good morning, America- and have a nice day!

Comments

[manfalling.livejournal.com]

exciting isn`t it?

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

(It is pleasant to think of your sitting on a cliff and looking out to sea, wishing for world government. A delightful image.)

I used to play chess, badly. I remember that I always lost because I was always on the defensive, while my opponent (usually my very bright son) was doing two things at once, painting me into a corner.

This is how I feel we are doing as a nation--we're making everyone furious with us, and we're going to be all alone over here, swaggering and bullying and saying "Because I say so, that's why!" There's no communication anymore--we're like the phone company bumper sticker: "AT&T: We don't care. We don't have to."

This is the first time nearly everyone's voting: viscerally, we all know what the stakes are. I dropped my vote into the bucket, plink, where it was immediately absorbed into the flood of local Bush votes, but I did my best.

It is comforting to know that, in the very long run, maybe our new Empire is the beginning of the Federation.

Until we grow up and are ready, though, we're stuck here, with our Emperor. And so, sadly, is the world.

[archyena.livejournal.com]

Yes... wisely... mwahahahahahahahaha!!!

[aftertorless.livejournal.com]

I plan to exercise my privilege wisely in approximately three hours, my friend.

And good day to you, as well!

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I have hopeful news from this side of the Pond:

My brother and his wife, Republicans (don't ask: it has torn our family apart, a tiny war), are in Florida, so they can't vote today!

That's two more.

And my mother's friend, who, like Mother, is in her eighties and increasingly fragile, fall at their bridge club the other night and was taken to the hospital by ambulance, but she is VOTING FOR KERRY today, although using a walker, with a fierce Democrat son on either side to steady her. Hooray!

I called my mother, another Republican, this morning and said, "Please, don't vote. Just don't vote. Can you do that much for your country?"

I think she was going to hang up on me, and then she remembered that she loved me anyway, even though I am misguided and dumb.

"I'll be at the polls at nine," she told me firmly.

"If the lines are too long, maybe you shouldn't try to stand there too long, Mother. Remember your health."

"Thanks," she said, "for your concern."

I tell you, it's a regular Civil War over here today.

God help us all.

Anyway, my sister-in-law and brother are out of town, and that's two.

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

well, not that it matters since i'm a resident of "liberal massachusetts", but i did my thing.

kerry is in boston today. work tonight will be crazy. if i wind up spending all night editing tapes about a bush victory, i will not be a happy camper.

i have enjoyed reading your thoughts on this day. if you read newspapers online, paul krugman's column in the ny times about election day is quite good, as is james carroll's in the boston globe.

[kaysho.livejournal.com]

If I hadn't felt good about voting before, I would now.

Thanks!

Frightened

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Your comment about a world government frightens me. It frightens me because I see a kernel of truth in it. That kernel of truth, that currently George W. Bush is in charge of the world, really is truly horrifying.

I, too, dream of a world government. A true world government, where there are no longer any boundaries between nations. Where people can move where they want and pursue the career they want, and where people care about what happens to those on the other side of the planet. Where people retain their cultural identity, but no longer let it affect how they vote or how they perceive the world. A world where there is only "us" not "us and them."

I'm going to stop here before I ramble on for the next eternity about the world government I would like to see.

Frightened

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

Your comment about a world government frightens me. It frightens me because I see a kernel of truth in it. That kernel of truth, that currently George W. Bush is in charge of the world, really is truly horrifying.

I, too, dream of a world government. A true world government, where there are no longer any boundaries between nations. Where people can move where they want and pursue the career they want, and where people care about what happens to those on the other side of the planet. Where people retain their cultural identity, but no longer let it affect how they vote or how they perceive the world. A world where there is only "us" not "us and them."

I'm going to stop here before I ramble on for the next eternity about the world government I would like to see.