The 4400 is a sci-fi show on the USA Network. It is about a group of 4400 people who have been removed at various points in their lives, but all returned at the same moment. Some of them have developed special powers. The government wants them monitored and quarantined.
Without talking about the specifics of the current story line, to me it demonstrates the social conflict of egalitarianism versus elitism. Our country at the moment is plagued by the dynamics of one group of people who are elitists but claim they represent the common folk against another group of people who are also elites. Unfortunately, too many of us believe one side over the other, and some of our political and social situations suffer from rancor.
With that current mood in mind, I have been thinking about the 2006 and 2008 elections. I think that except for the politically partisan faithful, people are tired of this administration and want a change. I hope this actually occurs. I don't mean merely to replace Republicans with Democrats. I am hoping that we elect representatives that a larger majority of us can agree with.
I like President Bill Clinton. Watching Jon Stewart last night made me appreciate him just a bit more. Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen was Stewart's guest. I did not know before this that Cohen was a Republican, but I knew that President Clinton hired a few Republicans. Cohen commented that this is not happening today in Washington.
I hope that we can get back to an environment of governing and move away from an environment of political fighting. I would hate to see another Presidential election with one party receiving a narrow majority and everyone arguing over the results!
I think that we can move ourselves towards an egalitarian political system by making ourselves well-informed about issues and candidates. We can also move ourselves to be less partisan. For example, Andrew Sullivan's blog on Time includes a post today referencing Matt Welch's Farewell to Warblogging.
Note: The partisan mind works differently than the non-partisan mind, according to this story on MPR.
Tags: The 4400, egalitarianism
6 comments:
Oh no, you too will become a Sullivan devotee.
Actually, he's on holiday this week and has guest writers.
Did you figure out the trackback? Then Sullivan's post will like to yours!
your friend, Janet
I meant Link to yours.....
Hey Janet,
All I did was put his link in my post. I am not sure if that was all that was necessary at my end. Does the administrator of his site have to do something to approve the trackback?
One more thing:
I do like reading Andrew's blog!
I think the bomb they dropped at the end of the episode perfectly describes the egalitarianism v. elitism you describe. I hadn't really thought about it until I saw the words written here, then *BAM* I saw it.
I'll check out some more stuff here. "Illuminatus!" is a favorite of mine as well.
Hey, thanks for checking out my blog, and I'm glad you liked this post. The 4400 story line is great; I can't wait for the season finale tomorrow.
Post a Comment