It's sobering that the fear expressed by Raul Ramos y Sanchez  in Another Martyr in the Making? is being discussed in England, and was, even before the Election. At a popular level, it operates among comrades via jokes of poor taste. For the philosophical, it's a let's-not-go-there kind of scenario. But the more pessimistic seem to regard it almost as a given, a case not of 'if' but 'when?'

What Raul says is true: we are always hostage to the extremist fringe, but God forbid that they prevail!

Most of us in Britain were delighted with the result on November 4, but when we observed the strikingly personal element in the wild jubilation that followed - despite sharing the hope and belief that it signalled the end of a dark era - we were left bemused, asking the question: What is it that Americans really think has happened? Nothing is yet signed, sealed and delivered. The financial powers of the world will still be pulling strings behind the scenes. Barack Obama has an incredibly complex tightrope to negotiate and he certainly won't please all of the people all of the time, or maybe even some of the time. We're in cosmic recession and the going will be tough for everyone.

The aftermath of an American presidential assassination on a shrunken globe would be a wholesale nightmare. Chaos theory magnified.

All that said, nothing, but nothing, is inevitable. This is a Golden Chance to get things on an even keel, to allow less greed and more justice and consideration for others to determine our actions. To do things because they need addressing and not, in the first instance, for personal gain. Let's put the spotlight on responsibilities and forget about rights for a while. We can't all have our due.

If that isn't the rubric on an individual scale, there's nothing a President can do. He labours in vain. His hands are tied. He needs everyone to bend their will in their humdrum everyday lives to this end for the good of all. The architect's plan might come from above, but the spadework is done on the ground.

This is something every single person is empowered to do within his/her own sphere, however humble, using the God-given gift of free will, in order to secure a strong foundation. 

Of course it's utopian, but that doesn't make it impracticable. Dreams that arrive out of the blue are sent as a guide - in modern parlance, a 'motivational' tool. They won't be realised without effort and, sometimes, considerable sacrifice.

And those devoted to such things can pray. At the very least, it's a focusing of our better intentions. Whatever we like to think, for all our hegemonism, we don't have the last word. Didn't God promise Abraham that for the sake of ten right-minded men, the city would be spared?

It's as simple as it is profound. Political systems in themselves aren't going to change the world. It's down to us.

Rosy

 http://www.redroom.com/publishedwork/dreams-of-gold