John Schmieding’s welcome response to my letter outlines his reasons for supporting Obama and why such support is vital. His case, as I understand it, is that a Romney administration would have a lot of negative consequences. I agree with this point, and I would prefer Obama assume the presidency over Romney. That doesn’t mean I want Obama to take office — I don’t. That’s in part because a lot of the reasons John provides to make us fear Romney apply to Obama too.
If it’s student debt you’re concerned about, vote for Jill Stein, who proposes real steps toward solving that problem: eliminating tuition and forgiving that debt.
Considering Obama’s belligerent behavior toward Iran, his proven willingness to engage in military interventions, and his murders of Pakistani civilians, it’s implausible to suggest that it is a Romney administration alone likely to lead the United States into another war. Even on local environmental issues that have inflamed the Athens area, Obama is a failure. He’s pro-fracking, after all. It’s also clear that Obama’s capitalist, pro-corporation, pro-exploitation “sustainability” policies are not reversing and cannot reverse the destruction of the environment and the shattering effects it has already had on the world’s population, disproportionately those of the global south.
John builds his case on the people who would suffer if Romney wins the election. He doesn’t mention the people who would suffer if Obama wins. The people I’ve mentioned and a lot of others, including the Palestinians and the poor in the United States, won’t get by under Obama. Their lives and aspirations are just as important as the lives and aspirations of the people John rightly says Romney threatens. These people are just as real, with just as real lives, and who have to struggle just as hard or harder. Voting for Obama is voting for justice for the few and injustice for the rest. If our sphere of moral consideration isn’t arbitrarily provincial, then they should matter — matter to us all, matter just as much and matter when we vote.
Perhaps under Obama, the world will go to hell in a handbasket at a brisk gait rather than at a gallop. That’s not a good reason to vote for him. Left-leaning individuals are not obligated to vote Democrat, nor are those who lean right obligated to vote Republican. Obama’s conservatism will lose him votes with America’s left, and it should. It is up to the candidates to win our votes, and their failure to do so is theirs alone. Jill Stein and her running mate Cheri Honkala represent the values I hold, and their platform would help combat the problems I have described. Why not make your vote part of the big change that’s needed?
Why compromise not just your own values, but also the lives of others, on Election Day?
Stephen Pearson is a graduate student studying teacher education.
