Paths of Least Resistance

August 29, 2008. It is now settled that the Republican presidential ticket will be John McCain and Sarah Palin, and the Democratic contenders will be Barack Obama and Joe Biden. CNN and every other news channel have dozens of analysts analyzing this new scenario. For the next two months, regular everyday people will be discussing the upcoming November election, me included. We will be strong with our opinions, resolute with our convictions, and will show deep concern for what will happen, what might happen, and, God forbid, hopefully never happens, if either McCain or Obama wins.

When I was in high school, I was afraid that if Ronald Reagan became president, that the world would end in a nuclear winter. He did, and it didn’t. Years later, when I was an intern at an oil company and made $11.25 an hour during Reagan’s second term, I had forgotten that I was afraid that Ronald Reagan would end the world.

During the Internet boom years, I joined the public in morally being ashamed of what Bill Clinton did. When the Internet boom died, I joined the public in missing his economic growth policies.

Next January, we will have a new president. Will it change my life significantly? Unless he blows up the world, probably not.

Will it make me change jobs, or alter my career decisions? If the past is an indication of the future, probably not.

Will it change the food that I eat, or the clothes that I wear, or the places that I visit?

Will it change the way that I choose my healthcare provider, my bank, my church, my movie theater, my bookstore, my fast food restaurant, my concert, my sports stadium?

Will it make me go to my local library on a regular basis? Will it make me give to charity less, or more?

Will it make me stop to write, seal, and mail one letter of protest or support? Will it make me stop to make a political phone call? Will it make me sacrifice a month of my life to fight for what I deem a worthy cause? Will it make me sacrifice a week? A day? An hour?

Will I spend more time worrying about the election than I will doing the laundry, or driving to appointments, or shopping for DVD movies, or surfing through Digg.com?

Will whatever happens two months from now make me happier than I already am, or sadder than I already am?

For years I’ve known about Tibet’s struggle to become an independent nation from China, and China’s reported oppression and suppression of Tibet. For years, I watched news reports and documentaries that showed physical, cultural and economic atrocities against the Tibetan people. Less than a week ago, I was glued to the TV set watching the Beijing Olympics. Less than a week later, I don’t even think about the Beijing Olympics.

I will debate you tooth and nail for what I believe at this moment. Unless there’s laundry to do, or I’m driving to an important appointment.