Systems and Change?

In spite of surface appearance, and the energy many put into supporting one against the other, there are few substancial differences between Bush and Kerry. It is more than likely that the main Bush policies will be continued with Kerry. He did after all support the Patriot Act, the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq and the current excessive levels of military spending.

Behind these symptoms, there are deep systems problems.

The main medium level one is the close alignment between the interest of corporations, the media and US policies. Deeper down we have a dualistic percpetion of the world that causes severe problems in a world that is seamless.

Of the Democratic presidential candidates, these systems levels were adressed mainly by Kucinich and to some extent by Dean. Kerry is far more invested in preserving status quo.

In this situation, there may - unfortunately - be significant advantages to re-electing Bush.

Bush's lack of sophistication makes the real motivations behind the policies more apparent. It brings awareness to these longstanding policies, their destructive effects, and fuels international resistance and alternatives.

Kerry's more civilized approach will make destructive policies more palatable. They will tend to go under the radar screen again...