Barack Obama - Yes!

I have been following the election closely for the past year, and it looks like it is going to happen - Obama is going to win! The last debate and Colin Powell's endorsement yesterday seem to have clinched it.

We left the states partly for political reasons, and at the time, what I considered social and cultural reasons (and now I just consider political). After living in France for the last four years, I understand the importance of economic rights as well as political and how they are inextricably linked. It is impossible to have equality or justice without ecomomic rights. Yes, that means socialism. Although Obama has not gone as far as to advocate socialism (a dirty word) in Amercian politics he has at least insisted on, to an extent, universal health care and pre-K education.

Some of the really stupid cultural debates in the states are the direct effect of outdated economic policies. Take the ridiculous "mommy wars". The so-called mommy wars have been cast as a debate that revolves around personal choice, moral and familial values, class, etc. But really it is economic. Women are being pitted against women over their "choices". Which is really the greatest misnomer perpetuated to keep women (and men) from demanding access to affordable or free childcare. When we lived in New York, childcare was impossible unless one had tons of money - fifteen dollars an hour was the going rate. And technically illegal, since it was cash under the table. Nursery schools were private and applications filled out years in advance. The limited amount of spaces (and the expense) make these institutions open to charges of elitism (which they are). Expensive, private nannies and private nursery schools are the real cause of the "mommy wars" not personal choice or values.

In France, women (whether one works or not) have real choices: affordable state sponsored "nannys", full-time daycare, part-time daycare. One pays according to one's income. If one chooses to stay home and care for one's infant, the state pays the parent!

School for children is mandatory at age 6. However, most children start at the age of 2 or three. One simply goes to the local mairie and signs up for the local school (we have three schools within a ten block radius and multiple nursery schools). It is free except for lunches, after school care, and holiday outings for which one pays, again, according to their means. And for lunch the kids are served real food: cod fish, couscous, roast chicken, beets, haricots verts, cheese, fruit. During the summer our kids went on different excursions almost everday: museums, parks, paris plage, the pool. This expense and devotion to every child's well-being and education is considered to be a right, not a luxury, and certainly not the personal choice of the parents but the responsibility of the state.

I was so happy to hear Obama state that Health Care is a "right" in the last debate. Tellingly McCain answered that it was a "responsibility" - and claimed that Obama wanted the States to become like Canada or Englaind (i.e., "Socialist). Would that be so bad? The lack of universal health care in the states is not only appalling it is morally wrong. The U.S. is listed at 29th in infant mortality rates, age expectancy has steadily declined, and treatment rather than prevention has become the norm. To pretend that emergency rooms provide universal health care is ridiculous.

And a propos McCain's comments that North Koreans are three inches shorter than their southern neighbors because of their political system (and thus economic disadvantage), I at first laughed. What the hell is he talking about now, I wondered. It turns out that he was referring to recent studies on height and its correlation to the health of a country. In the New Yorker there was an article on the height and history (height is not genetic but rather cultural). Funnily enough, the article pointed out that compared to other developed countries, it is Americans who are becoming relatively shorter. One can blame lack of prenatal care, early childhood, diet, etc.

And to return to Powell's endorsement. I was thrilled he made the point that one shouldn't have to answer the charge that Obama is a Muslim with, no he is a Christian (which he is), but with, why does it matter? One can be a Muslim and be president of the U.S. And contrary to the popular American belief, all Muslims are not terrorists.

Lastly, McCain's sneering reference to Obama's tax plan as one which aims "to spread the wealth", it just doesn't resonate. Presumably he hoped it would have the same effect as Bush Sr's "read my lips, no new taxes" or Reagan's "trickle down theory", but obviously it hasn't. Isn't it time to "spread the wealth" a little, especially as the gap between rich and poor has become increasingly obscene? How can one object to an increase in taxes on incomes over 250K or on corporations? Spread the Wealth, I say...

I guess it is obvious who I am voting for. I too am "electrified" by the possiblity of an Obama presidency. We might just consider moving back to the States.