Posted on 09/10/2008 6:50:26 AM PDT by pabianice
Now that the subject of presidential campaign is significant and almost in every gathering and discussion the subject comes up, I find myself a little indifferent.
First, I am not an American citizen, and I have far more important worries such as surviving my classes and my immigrant life after all those loans I've taken from family members, friends and the university.
Second, I am beginning to lose all hope and start to believe that once again Americans are going to elect someone who is less concerned about public health, education, economy or peace and human rights.
It wasn't until a couple of days ago that I decided to write on this topic. I was waiting in the bus stop where I overheard a conversation between some foreign students. None seemed to be passionately following the presidential campaigns, yet each had interesting aspects to distinguish between the candidates. One said, "if the old guy wins, we all will be sent back to our countries." Another referred to a candidate as "the black guy." I thought of the strong role race plays in this vast land, where people have come long ways and sacrificed much to enjoy being equal. It is deep that a simple, na've comment can remind us how there are still primitive prejudices and racial agendas.
It is an intense show that these hardworking candidates have put together. Watching the candidates, I am entertained, though I hope that entertainment is not their sole purpose. The media are not less guilty either. Being black and being a woman have been great tools for their agenda-making process. Isn't it true that the media have played with anything from Hillary's boring clothes and Sarah Palin's excellent sense of motherhood to Senator Obama's being an alleged Muslim?
Such wonders I have heard over the past year or so. I often think of how it would be watching Senator McCain running to the gates of hell to catch Bin Laden or seeing Senator Obama sit on a dialogue table with nations such as Iran, which are angry at America due to years of mistreatment and damage.
However, amusement is not all I get from witnessing such competition; I am somewhat saddened too.
It is unfair to see how women are being exploited once again. I respect, for instance, the choice of Sarah Palin and her family to give birth to a special needs child, or to justify a teen pregnancy, but I wonder if it is moral to set these choices as standards for all women?
It is unfair to constantly hear about experiences of a veteran who is using war as a sacred opportunity that qualifies him for running a nation. I believe that war is a difficult situation to be in, but I often wonder whether feeling it shouldn't make a person more in favor of peace or a withdrawal of troop from an occupied country.
As a woman, I just felt so invisible when I came across the vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin's veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live.
And there are all those scary talks on tax cuts benefiting the rich, encroachment on same sex marriage, or no plan for universal health care which remind me of the conversation on the bus stop. America is a wonderful country. I am honored to be here. But am I seeing what I thought prior to my trip I would be facing?
Maybe it is seeing or hearing such conservative stands on social, economical and international issues that make some of us feel unsafe and scared. I think of the people on the bus stop and I think of myself. I am no expert in American politics. I am in favor of no particular candidate. I am just a simple immigrant, appreciating my exceptional education. I am a woman from an old generation of subjugated women who have fought in their own ways to get a voice. Yet, I feel that something is not right.
I might have not been in the United States long enough to truly grasp the status of women in this society, but I can definitely see some double standards. When running for presidency, Hillary Clinton was criticized for her look. Now that, proudly, another woman has found a way into professional politics, she is favored for her "beautiful legs."
I wonder whether it is immature to raise a question of what is happening to the world. I had a difficult summer facing my birthplace, Iran, after many years with such dramatic, cruel changes. I escaped back to the U.S to see that the world is still hesitant over an African-American president, or the world is still pondering upon the right of a woman to her own body.
Maybe I am too impatient. I want to see the world act its age. Maybe, I have a lot of faith in America, and my expectations are too high.
Well, until there are indecisions like this, I must raise the question: "What is happening to the world?"
Parisa Saranj is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at psaranj@student.umass.edu.
I’m gonna need a cryin’ towel if these losers keep up these heart-wrenching stories of passion and loss.
Or, maybe they ought to just get over it. Their guy is imploding and they are powerless to stop it.
Don't argue with ignorance.
Should have just flushed the money down the toilet.
Quicker. Same results.
Worried about the USA when you are from Iran? Yup, you are a "young skull full of mush".
Note the email address, indicating that author is from the laughable "ZooMass" a/k/a U Mass.
I think it’s pure irony....they come here to gain the bountiful blessings this country has to offer—and constantly bitch about our way of life.
This legal immigrant would tell her to thank the USA from the bottom of her heart for the education she is receiving here, paid in part by the generosity of US taxpayers.
Maybe this student should begin by eavesdropping on some American students if the object is to learn anything about how Americans think. On second thought, he probably needs to get off his campus and spy on some grownups, not students, foreign or domestic.
Fine, then leave.
I would do something about it, but I'm having trouble budgeting my time. Starving children pretty much fills my day.
she can always go back to Iran and get herself a vest full of ball bearings.
This is all you need to read. All students at UMass should take notice of Ms. Saranj. Watch her carefully.
What is happening to the US? A democratic process within a republic. In one word, freedom.
What is happening in the world? Bankruptcy, genocide, spread of violent Muslims, government control, increasing taxes.
In one word, oppression.
Yet another naive college student who's bought into the liberal philosophy. If she would just check out the facts she'd see that the top 10% of the income people in this country pay 66% of the federal income taxes while the lowest 40% pay none. Same sex marriage is not a marriage...period. Universal health care? We already have it. Show me one case where someone needing health care was turned away from a hospital.
Wake up, stupid! Part of the education process should be questioning what you hear and taking the time to verify it yourself. Clearly, you are doing neither.
Another sterling example of the pitfalls of trying to educate someone beyond their intelligence.
Why do we even make space in our colleges for people like this?
She comes to America from Iran, where she can’t even flash a bare ankle, and starts complaining about our culture, our choices, our values.
I am sick of people like her.
If America isn’t up to her standards she should go back to Iran.
I stopped reading right there. This idiot can go back to whatever hell hole he or she came from and enjoy the treatment the government gives him / her.
bet her mailbox is “full” right about now....
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