A Long Way Gone

I read this detrimentally sad book in high school titled A Long Way Gone. (thats not the actual title, i think I made this title up because thats what I wanted it to be, but anyway it doesnt really matter because not much of this has to do with any kind of book anyway.) I don't remember all the specifics of it, but basically I remember it being about growing up, the angst, the pain, the remorse, but yet through it all a longing to return. Most of the time I feel that longing. I am still unsure whether or not this is a mature response to the ideal of growing up, I truly believe it is the Peter Pan syndrome however it exists. I think part of the reason why I wish I could return to my childhood is because mine was filled with none of the angst or pain that many other children experience. My childhood was truly a Eden-like experience. I wish all children had a similar experience but unfortunately the world can often be a cruel and harsh place. Anyway I digress slightly from my topic which as per the title is a Long Way Gone.

What does it mean to be a long way gone? Does it mean that you have put a lot of distance between yourself and something that you want to escape from or maybe in a hero's journey sort of way that you have left home long ago (a proverbial "we're not in Kansas any more"). My thoughts drift to perhaps a third version...

Long way gone perhaps is an indication that we have digressed and went far down a path from which return is quite difficult, nigh impossible. Pessimists (whose camp I often find myself) would use this definition to describe the current state of American Politics. Long Way Gone... Tonight I would like to attempt to explore this idea, especially with its relevance to the current political storm that is galavanting its way across the company in the form of the Democratic and Republican Caucauses (sp.).

How did our political system get so bad that all a candidate has to do is be charismatic and run a campaign on change to be elected? How has our country become so divided and hostile that the biggest issue on the table is what candidate can draw people "across the lines." Which because of the language used seems to suggest that the biggest issue (at least for the democrats) is what candidate can make traitors out of the opposing candidates camp. Senator Obama is running on a campaign he names the "campaign of hope" and has written a book called "the audacity to hope." I am not denying that many Americans need hope, that many Americans need to be hopeful about their future, however my great fear is that many Americans are also not listening to what they are supposed to be hopeful about. What does Senator Obama offer that should inspire me to hope, hope for hope's sake is for those people that have nothing else to turn to, nowhere else to go but hope. I don't think, nor do I ever think that America and its people will ever get to that point.

My fear is rooted in the belief that you must vote for your elected officials by the merits of their accomplishments, the values and beliefs they hold to be most dear, and their ability to hold the promises they make. I genuinely believe that no political candidate has ever made promises during the campaign without the intention of actually doing them. I believe that they never had the ability to follow through on those promises in the first place. It would be as if I promised you that tomorrow if you voted for me in some election I would jump into the air and fly around the campus. Now I might have every intention of flying around the campus if I get your vote, that is not the issue, the issue is that I physically/factually can not fly. That is the problem with many candidates, they have the intention just not the ability. This is why I believe that one of the considerations we make of our candidates when deciding to vote is, "what is their future ability to get their promises done." When we examine our political situations in that lens it is often times hard to tell, however I would like to clear up one huge misconception being made by the American people. Just because a candidate can make voters "cross the line" says absolutely nothing about the candidates ability to make fellow politicians "cross the line."

I am beginning to digress again...

A long way gone...I fundamentally disagree that America is a Long Way Gone. Mostly because I believe in the resilency (sp.) of our government and our nation. I believe that any mistake can be rectified and I believe that history has yet to play itself out to conclude on any of the current "messes" that we find ourselves in.

A long way gone... perhaps one can be a long way from a certain point we were in life, but I never feel that the point we left from is out of our reach. It takes a retracing of our steps and a deep concerted effort to admit the places we went wrong, but it is not impossible nor improbable.

A long way gone...perhaps its not really as far away as we think...

Trevor Lance Isham