apology where it is due
Marie e-mailed to ask what I thought of this hot new site progressives are passing around: SorryEverybody.com. I wrote back:
The site kinda pisses me off, actually, because 1) we who voted against Bush shouldn’t be the ones apologizing (and I don’t believe in apologizing on behalf of other people’s actions) and 2) the overall sentiment of the site seems to be “sorry, we did everything we could!”, which I think is really disingenuous. There’s much more work to be done - voting is NOT everything we can do.
Moreover, I think if there’s going to be apologizing, it should be apologizing to the poor and exploited people and critters of the world for the daily capitalist consumer lifestyle we live in this culture. That’s something where we would be apologizing on our own behalf. And then we should get that apologizing is not enough; taking responsibility is about more than making amends, it’s about making a change.
Pamela said,
November 13, 2004 @ 2:29 pm
Emily,
While you make some good points here, I viewed the site in a more lighthearted way … as a means of expression for frustration at the election outcomes. I think it is a performative act saying, “hey, don’t lump me into a country of people who voted for Bush,”
Although it could be viewed as defeatest, I swa it more as a way to reach out to the world community at large, and say that certain elements of US society are NOT so much part of the problem, but would rather be part of a solution. The site doesn’t say much, though. And I think an explanation of intent, or a push to stay involved would be in order.
Roxanne said,
November 15, 2004 @ 7:50 am
I was a bit annoyed with that site as well. Not exactly sure why, however. Maybe because I, too, do not believe they “did everything they could,” as so many of them state.
RedStateMan said,
November 17, 2004 @ 1:29 pm
I thought it was sad really. www.tothepoint.com has a great article on liberalism, envy, and the fear of being envied. Those who are more concerned with what others think of them, rather than what is actually right are overwhelmingly liberal. They feel it is wrong to have more than others, for others to have more than them. Extended to a national level, liberals are sorry that the U.S. is overly successful. This forces them to adopt anti-U.S. phliosophies and side with those that truly hate us (again envy). Forced to reconcile that with a lost election, the fear-of-envy group has found a way to self-flagellate.
Emily said,
November 17, 2004 @ 3:46 pm
Oh please, that analysis is so out of touch with reality…
I find it outrageously arrogant to presume that the rest of the world envies the U.S. The only problem with U.S. success that myself and all the “liberals” I know have is that this success so often AT THE EXPENSE OF those elsewhere in the world. Damn straight I feel bad that Americans consume as much as we do when so many people in the rest of the world are in such poverty - the more one learns that it is due to rampant exploitation that America is so successful, the more one realizes how entirely shameful this “new world order” is.
Not that comparable material success automatically translates into happiness. Most Americans are pretty discontent, if you ask me.
leblanc said,
November 23, 2004 @ 10:01 am
voting is not all we could do, for sure, but for a lot of people, not as educated as yourself or in a supportive community such as yours, it sure felt like it. the desperation that followed was made visual by that website. sure, some of those posting pictures could be doing a LOT more, starting with their own lifestyles, but that wasn’t the point. writing up a treastise on the subject wouldn’t have had the immediate and simple appeal the website did. i don’t think it’s simple message should be discounted.
that said, yes, it also showed extreme arrogance on the american people’s part as well, and a little bit of class and something more compassionate would have been nicer.
dori said,
November 23, 2004 @ 11:21 am
i actually found it (periodically) uplifting (and even posted a couple of pics, myself). believe me i totally see where you’re coming from. i think i’d feel far less defeated if all i’d ‘done’ was to visit the polls for the first time in four years… but i, and a lot of people i know, DID put a lot of work in to at the very least, get bush out… still, yeah, it totally concerns me that there seem to be a lot of people out there who think it can/will be resolved in… 2008! that’s too far away - if you haven’t already been working, it’s time to get started, NOW (my own opinion is that we scrap caring about presidential elections altogether and focus on local alternatives instead - but what do i know, in the end i’m an anarchist with few fonds words for John Kerry even, anyway).
no, those of us who worked don’t owe any apologies - but, when you watch the man in charge continue to destroy the world, what can you do? at the very least it assauges some of that helpless feeling.
it’s refreshing to see the response from the rest of the world, too… here’s something - http://www.apologiesaccepted.com
Marie said,
November 24, 2004 @ 7:36 pm
I thought you had a good point, Emily, and I have to admit that I thought the overall attitude of the site was a teensy bit defeatist.
I do respect that people felt the need to let the rest of the world know that many of us are unhappy with the results…well, not sure if they’re the REAL results but at least unhappy with what we’ve been fed so far!
Aubrey Levy said,
November 12, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
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