Hilary vs Barack

So this is the debate for the last few months amongst Democrats (which is most people I know - I do live in Portland and went to Brown). At first it seemed like just an exercise for us Oregonians because we don't vote until May 20th for our primary. And this year, with all the primaries being moved up to January and February it seemed very unlikely that our votes would make a difference.

I have been teaching about the primaries every Wednesday morning in my senior class- counting the votes and delegates and caucases. It has been fascinating to watch. My students have been asking me each time "so what's going to happen?" And I honestly told them that I have no clue. One student (a Republican) has declared the race over about 5 times during the updates.

So my dad caucased for Senator Clinton in the Washington caucases, my sister voted for Senator Obama in the Washington DC primaries. My uncle said "of course Hilary" when I asked who he supported. My mom is becoming passionately supportive of Obama and says that most of her friends are as well. A younger female cousin has written an open letter to Clinton about her inspiration. Several Brown friends of mine are active Obama supporters (I can tell from their Facebook stuff), and at least one works for the Clinton campaign. So much for help from my friends and family.

I am finding it difficult to figure out how to decide this. Do I base it on who I see as the most qualified for the job? I do think that Senator Clinton has a lot more experience, but there are examples of inexperienced politicians becoming great Presidents. Do I base it on who I think could beat Senator McCain, the Republican nominee? Well that depends on so many factors which I will discuss later. Do I base it on which candidate will repair our relationship with the world? Probably all of them, including McCain would be an improvement. Clinton might be the least improvement because of her association with past events. So far again, no help.

I have heard some interesting theories about what should influence my vote. "We shouldn't have the same two families be in charge of the countries for such a long time. If Clinton wins, then that will be over 20 years." "Obama is inspirational in a way that we haven't seen in a long time." But are those good theories for voting?

It's probably a cop-out, but I am still not sure. I have two months to figure it out, and hopefully I can find my way. But damn it's fun to be a student of politics right now.

Words Matter

So one of my least favorite things is when I am debating with someone and they say "well that's just semantics," as though the meaning of words and what words you use is not important to the overall debate itself. But of course, semantics is incredibly important.

The meaning of words as we use them is constantly changing, but vital to what makes a society. Sociologists have studied how different groups create meaning and that what makes it a cohesive unit. So the value and meaning of words can make boundaries and create a culture.

An example of the punch that a word can hold is in this recent news story.
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSL2868601720080229

An Israeli official, speaking about what they were going to do to people in Gaza if rocket fire from there did not stop, said that a "shoah" was going to happen to them. I was stunned when I heard the news story on the radio.

I became familiar with the word "shoah" when I was asked to write curriculum for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. That was an organization in Southern California that was started by Steven Spielberg after Schindler's List to document survivor's stories of the Holocaust. I went down to Universal Studios about 6 years ago and worked with other teachers and even got to meet Steven Speilberg. By that point they had interviewed on tape about 50,00 survivors, and created DVD's and documentaries of some of the stories. The organization still exists, but now is part of USC. http://college.usc.edu/vhi/

This organization now works to document other genocides such as Rwanda and through education try to overcome prejudice, intolerance and bigotry. They still use the word "Shoah" in their title, which has been the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. According to dictionary.com, it comes from the Hebrew word for calamity or disaster.

So semantically, someone who was in the Israeli military used a word for the Holocaust as a threat. Wow.

My second example of word meaning is from our esteemed commander in chief.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080226/pl_afp/useconomybush_080226224122
About two weeks ago he declared at a press conference that we were not in a recession, but rather in a slow down.

Now I am teaching economics right now so I feel I need to educate our president. The normal goal of our economy is to be in growth, or what they call "expansion." A recession is when the growth slows down. That is, the economy is still growing but not growing as fast. In contrast, a depression is when the economy declines.

Now technically economists don't usually call it a recession until the slowing down happens for two quarters or more. So although I would like to correct our President Bush for saying we are not in a recession but a slow down by saying that a "slow down" IS a recession, it won't actually be a recession unless his "slow down" lasts for 6 months. But I was not impressed with our leaders grasp of economic definitions.

So dangit - semantics matter!! What words mean can change things completely. So pay attention.