Last Wednesday I did something I never typically do, and
watched the World Series even though it had zero Mets representation. I was even rooting for one side, Chicago, on
the sole basis of their 108-year drought of Championship titles. I couldn’t tell you one Cubs player, one Cubs
coach and I kept second guessing myself as to which team was on the National
League (Cubs) and which was on the American League (Indians). But I felt in this match-up of World
Series-starved teams, Chicago was in greater need of the win. And in a series down 3-1, they were the
underdogs of all underdogs.
Game 7 was good baseball.
Chicago was first to score, but then it was tied, and Chicago pulled
ahead, and Cleveland tied it up again.
The momentum moved from the Cubs to the Indians to the Cubs to the
Indians and then back to the Cubs. It
pulled me in. It put this die-hard
second-generation Mets fan’s love of all things Blue and Orange allegiance to
the side, and let me be enraptured by my love for the sport, my love of the
game.
Honestly, for America ex-Chicago and ex-Cleveland, I don’t
think it mattered who won this battle.
Only 37 seasons in the 112 years of modern World Series Championships
have come down to such a close call with a game 7 winner-take-all scenarios. Neither team was the incumbent champion. The last time Cleveland won the World Series,
Truman was president. The last time the
Cubs won the Fall Classic, Teddy Roosevelt was president, women didn’t have the
right to vote and the Ford Model T was all the rage. Both teams were due, but it would take seven
games, and extra innings to name the winner.
It was a tight, close race.
While watching game 7 on live television, I was abruptly
shaken from my love-of-baseball euphoria by ads for Hillary Clinton and Donald
Trump during the commercial breaks. And
not because of the content of the ads, this campaign has been going on long
enough, but I was surprised there actually were ads at all. Excuse my lack of media-buying knowledge, I’m
not sure if those commercials were aired here in New York specifically or if
everyone across the country were seeing the same ads at the same time. Because here in (down-state) New York, and in
the Seventh Borough, we have made it to November without any real mass
political solicitation by the presidential candidates. The local races are advertising like crazy,
but Hillary and The Donald have sent me zero mail. Typical for national elections, I’m paid no
mind. I’m not a political donor, I sway no constituencies, I’m from an
undeniably ‘Blue’ state, I’m ignored from Day 1.
As this blog began in 2013, this is the Seventh Borough
News’ first presidential election cycle, so here is where we get to be
un-ignored. The election of 2016 has
proved to be a tight, close race, especially as we wind up the last 48 hours of
this mudslinger.
Like many of you, I
cannot wait for this race to be over, but unlike the World Series (+/-
Cleveland and Chicago), it does
matter who wins this battle. And unlike
the World Series, which brought fans and fans of other teams, like myself,
together, hopeful for an elusive champion, this election has been divisive and
full of anger. And the anger has turned
into rage. And the rage has brought all
our demons to the fore. And all the
world is watching us become a worse version of ourselves. We’re basically a 240-year-old having a
temper tantrum.
I may not be a political hack, but I am a mother of two
young children, so I’m well versed in temper tantrums. Notably, they can sometimes be avoidable. If the child (or the country) has their needs
met, sufficient food, rest, comfort and stimulation, you can typically avoid
the meltdown. This is not always in your
control, sometimes you get behind schedule, or you forget the diaper bag in the
car, or you leave a favorite stuffed animal behind in a hotel room in
Pennsylvania, and the world comes to an end on the Jersey turnpike. Nobody’s perfect, but we can anticipate the
needs of our charges and act.
The United States of America is basically having a meltdown
because the republic is angry. Our basic
needs are not being met. Our wages are
stagnant, yet healthcare costs and higher education costs are growing exponentially. Last week was open enrollment for our 2017
benefits at work, and as I clicked the link to the medical insurance premium
data, I read the computer screen through squinted eyes and held my breath to
see how much the increases would be for a family of four. I braced myself for bad news. I got through
it. People are working harder and longer
for less benefit, if they can even get the work they are seeking. Certain segments of the country have been
left behind. On the Homefront, our
security is at risk, and our protectors are also under threat. Our infrastructure is rusting. Our systems are dated. Our Veterans go without. Our population is changing. Certain segments of the population are
growing more marginalized. Certain
segments of the citizenry are getting wealthier and healthier and have all the
right connections, while many others see no progress. We’re not “Young, scrappy and hungry”, but
rather bloated, disengaged and litigious (and that doesn’t make for good
lyrics). For the first time in maybe
forever, there is a sentiment across the country that our children will NOT be
better off than we are. The American
Dream is dying.
That work-hard-make-progress contract between the governed
and the governors, which has steadily fueled this country for more than two centuries,
is at risk of being voided. Yet
somewhere along this journey, we misinterpreted the signals. We’ve accepted that a deterioration of the
social contract has granted us permission to be a republic behaving badly. Perhaps it’s due to the painfully slow ‘jobless
recovery’ and the increasing threat of terrorism, greased by the ease and
anonymity of social media account and internet posts, we’ve unleashed our
latent racist, misogynistic and xenophobic tendencies for all the world to
see. Let’s be honest, America, many of
us have never worked through our demons, we just manage to keep them under
wraps in front of the company.
This is disheartening, but what’s worse, is that this is
mostly avoidable, so let’s avoid it. We
can do better. We need to be good
citizens and not raging haters. We need
our leaders to get out of their cozy camps and anticipate the needs of their
charges, and act. We need our leaders to
work for the greater good, and not just themselves. We need the public sector to be about public
service. We need the private sector to
be accountable and involved. We need a
balance, not a collusion, between the two sectors. The social contract needs to be repaired,
re-written. Our tool for redrafting this
contract is our vote.
This is the paragraph where I tell you it’s all going to be
okay. I can’t write this paragraph
convincingly, because I can’t even convince myself that it’s true.
But I
can tell you this – despite the 108 years between Cubs’ championships, they had
no shortage of support. The faith of the
fans was always there. They showed
up. If you believe we can do better, if
you believe we deserve better, if you believe our children deserve better, then
show up.
Vote.
"Do Not Throw Away Your Shot!" (A.Ham)
Vote.
"Do Not Throw Away Your Shot!" (A.Ham)
