Where is the Hope

 

 

There's a meme that has been making the rounds in my social media feed of late, which of course I now cannot find, along the lines of "if two 80-something year old firefighters show up at a fire, and one has a hose and the other has gasoline, it's pretty obvious which one is more capable." The insinuation being that Joe Biden and Donald Trump are both old but beyond that the differences could not be more stark. 

I realize memes are meant to be funny, and that political ones are not trying to be diplomatic or conciliatory when making their point. But that meme is, to me, so sad and so telling.

First of all, let me say where I am politically. I agree with what I believe to be the main premise of the meme. Joe Biden, while old, is reasonably capable. Donald Trump, also old, has the potential to be literally inflammatory for this country. So, now that it's likely these are our two choices, I have already figured out who I am voting and rooting for.

That said, the beauty of this country is its diversity, which by definition means that different people come from different perspectives and have different opinions. According to the polls, slightly more people plan to vote for Trump than Biden. I can't say how much of that is love for Trump, hate for Biden, desire for change, or preference for R's over D's, but the fact of the matter is that, when presented with the choice of two firefighters, there are lots of people on both sides of that choice. Which tells me that there are lots of people who would not characterize this presidential election as choosing between someone who brings a hose to a fire and someone who brings gasoline. Which tells me that characterizing it as such may feel good to some who like Biden but seems alienating to others who either like Trump, or are unhappy with both Biden and Trump.

I also imagine that many, when confronted with the scenario this meme describes, would react with sadness that, with the pressing need to put out a fire, the only two firefighters available are in their 80's. I have to think that younger folks in particular are wondering, how is it that we are the future of this country, and when we go to the voting booth, we don't see ourselves in the race for the top job in the land? I lament but understand the deep disillusionment many of our young people feel about a political process that leads to Biden and Trump being our two choices, again. I realize this is a bit circular, but I refuse to be a scold and say that if only young people were more engaged, they'd have more representation. The fact of the matter is that young people do seem reasonably engaged, and yet election after election it is not their candidate who emerges as the choice, and I can empathize with the amount of disillusionment that that creates.

It is also disillusioning that we are talking about having to put out a fire, especially if, to continue the analogy, some of us are feeling the proximity and damage of that fire while others of us are comfortably buffered from it. Whether it is economic inequity or a sense in which some of us have the privilege of opting out of certain social or political issues, there is a disillusionment that the playing field is uneven, such that some are able to navigate with comfort while others are faced with a raging inferno. That too seems terribly unfair and depressing.

Where is the hope for this generation? I realize it's just one meme, and memes are supposed to be sarcastic and biting and dark. So apologies if I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. But I feel like this meme is both indicative of and makes a mockery of a hopelessness that I sense among this generation, a hopelessness that I lament but have sympathy for.