Pimper's Paradise

Tonight I had a disturbing discussion about the ramifications of the upcoming election. While I definitely want Obama to win, I warned about the danger of pinning all hopes and dreams on one person. My essential question is: If Obama doesn't win, what should the recourse be? Also, when Obama does win, what will day 2 look like? We tend to get so wrapped up in the historic nature of this election that we believe Obama to be a figure that will deliver us from all the evil in the world. This is an unfair expectation for Obama to live up to as one man and also as the president of the ENTIRE United States of America. All too often we find ourselves attached to charismatic men that we expect to provide us with direction and hands-on leadership. However this sort of transformational leadership doesn't occur frequently, but when it does it has the collective power to create a movement that executes long lasting change. The potential is amazing and truly remarkable. It is a testament to the power of a collective that strives toward a common goal, and of the fact that everyone recognizes they play a part in the ultimate success of the movement.

Movements are not all about the leader though, the day to day work is grueling, often thankless, but it is done with the future in mind. A movement must have an economic base that works in tandem with its political aspirations. If people that vote are not in control of their own communities and neighborhoods, the effort is null. Also in this mix is the importance of education. So many institutions in this country rely on a poorly educated population to achieve optimal success for their specific functions. For example, in large urban areas, there is usually a contentious relationship between the police and the male population. This poor relationship is often predicated on the assumed poor education of the male population. Police often believe that they can have their way with this group because they don't know any better. In contrast, in areas that have high income and an assumption of higher education, the adversarial relationship highlighted in the previous example is replaced by a partnership.

When people are aware of and have the ability to articulate their rights, they are on equal footing as the police. However, when people yield no net benefit from the educational system that is supposed to provide a basic foundation for future success, the police/citizen relationship will never be positive. The police are at the clear advantage even when they are not in the right. Yet, historically the police have successfully used an assumed low education level to abuse their power within communities in which they operate. If in fact poor education has resulted in success for the police, who would it benefit to revamp the educational system? Therefore it is a trinity of sorts that confronts us. The underlying one is education. Without an education, people are without access to means of self-defense. Secondly, economic power represents interest, ownership and a source of capital accumulation. Lastly, political power feeds off the first two and becomes a capstone to the full actualization of power within a society. This is not to say that all three might not occur at the same time or in a different order, but the whole is greater than the sum. Without the three interacting and feeding off each other the ultimate goal of power cannot be fully realized.