Obama and the Return of Apathy

By Daniel Bein

Lately there has been much debate as to which presidential candidate is the "lesser of two evils". Many on the paleo right claim that McCain is more desirable. To these folks Obama is a bogey man; a mysterious black nationalist with questionable associations, who, along with his democratic majority, will impose a socialistic new wold order on a vulnerable American public. Others argue (and I am among them) that McCain is the more repugnant of the two due to his role as neocon poster child, war monger extraordinaire, and emotionally unstable egomaniac. McCain is also no less of a socialist than Obama, since it was he who fought hardest for one the most massive socialistic swindles of all time, the Wall Street Bailout. Is not picking the pockets of American workers and giving the proceeds to corporate robber barons a clear example of "wealth redistribution"?

While I won't be voting for either mainstream candidate, I will be less horrified to see an Obama victory than to see the neocons cemented in place for four more years. That being said, I am left with one nagging fear should Obama prevail: the end of dissatisfaction with the executive and anti-war sentiment among 18-35 year olds. With Obama in the White House most of these young people will assume that the Candidate of Change will fix all of their woes. If he's true to his word he will pull the troops from Iraq and say the necessary things about defending a woman's right to choose and other social issues, and that will be enough for most of the people who are supporting him now.

Like Clinton, the liberal minded youth will love Obama. And like Clinton in Bosnia, most won't bat an eyelash over his disastrous foreign interventions. There won't be massive protests when he gets us bogged down in an even more disastrous situation in Afghanistan, and possibly Pakistan as he has pledged to do. The anger will fade when the perceived villains are no longer in office. This will be a sad testament to the fact that most people will ignore the degradation of our currency, a sinking economy and the spread of empire as long as the man in the White House agrees with them on their pet social issues.

When Obama most likely wins the White House tomorrow, there will be much celebration. Most of the people I know who are around my age will be ecstatic. They are going to go out and rock the vote, then celebrate like mad when Obama is chosen to succeed George W. Bush, who most of them consider to be the worst president of all time. I can relate, as I too won't be able to resist a slight sense of elation at bidding good riddance to that bad rubbish.

But there is not doubt that when Bush is out, apathy will set in. And without the energy of the young, we will be worse off in the fight against government excess. This is not enough to justify four more years of neocon rule under McCain, but it is still a frightening prospect. It's always easier to find allies when there's an easily recognizable villain to face. With Obama, they won't see the train coming until it's on top of them. The most dangerous bad guys don't always stroke their mustaches while tying you to the tracks, they smile to your face, then stab you in the back.