My parents voted in the US for the first time this year. It was the first election since they became citizens. I got a little emotional when my parents told me that the workers clapped for them when they said it was their first time voting, and also took the time to answer all of their questions (which, knowing my parents, were probably numerous). That was before we even knew how immense the results from the election would be. I’m so proud of my parents, and so excited that their first election was filled with so much optimism in the same way my first election back in 2008 was.
It also struck me that the first time they got to vote in the US is the first time I’ve voted as someone who no longer lives in the US. (Shout out to Democrats Abroad for making the process so much less confusing). And it makes me wonder what my relationship to US politics will look like over the course of future election cycles. I know what I want to happen in the next two years, but what does it mean for me to want those things when I’m no longer living in the country? I know that voting will still be important to me, in part because no one is ever far from the consequences of US politics, but also because it’s a country I care about full of people I care about.
I think a lot (maybe too much) about the way internet discourse flattens the US into its worst impulses, with European countries painted as the wiser, more functional counterpoint. I find it deeply frustrating on a lot of levels, the most fundamental of which is that it buys into the notion of the US as an unchanging monolith. One of the best parts of the World Cup was seeing people come to the US and see firsthand just how vast it really is. I hope this elections emphasizes that the country is built on change as well, even when it comes at tremendous cost.
The hopescrolls remind me oddly of when Arsenal won the Premiere League last year, when I still lived in Massachusetts. The stakes were (a bit) lower, but there was a similar sense of joy and release that felt so tangible despite being across an ocean. There was a constant need to stare directly at that joy, even if it was just through the screen of a tiny phone. I know that there will still be frustration and disappointment, but it’s nice to celebrate, even when the party is far away.
Quick Notes
- I need to get better about updating my website with recent work. Until then, have a Tiny Matters episode I just worked on about cannibalism
- I’ve been watching The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County, and it’s reinforcing my thesis that The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives franchise is not about Mormonism at all, it’s actually about the ethics and framework of digital content creation
