Eugene Weekly : Viewpoint : 12.04.08

Elegant Nature 
Why election bliss went global
By Brian Bogart

No matter for whom or if you voted, a new rung in the ladder of human evolution is beneath your feet. For Americans who have lived long enough, election night 2008 may have produced the first palpable change felt in 40 years. The monumental sense of loss that seemed to last forever after the passing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has suddenly waned, allowing us to reflect on how we changed during a time when changes were too insignificant to feel or we were too numb to feel them.

In the interim, and not by coincidence, science has observed in nature a self-correcting mechanism responsible for the evolution of all that we know. Breakthroughs in cell biology and fractal geometry and mathematics have revealed a universal pattern of branching toward balance and perfection in a nonlinear yet persistent manner. It is present in galaxies as well as the systems of every living thing, and it tells us we are born stewards of the planet, wired to be receptors and processors of nature’s input.

On election night, we felt nature’s power of self-correction in our society, a sensation that offers more than hope: It offers assurance that we will overcome our challenges because we are part of nature’s design to forge ahead through time. If we had each depended solely on tradition, had not pondered creatively, had not persistently reached for imagined heights, humankind would not now have a renewed long-term opportunity to participate in nature’s unfolding orchestral magic.

Indeed, we have branched toward collective cognizance that tradition must allow for the flexible efforts the future demands; we internally know here in the present that nature owns our future. This inner cognizance heralds the dawn of a Green Age, when defending the Earth, our common ground, elevates us to a single family inspired to earn that future.

We did not arrive at this point merely through the election of a 44th president, but from a lengthy period of relatively unnoticeable societal changes in times of turmoil to one very large soulful burst in pursuit of a calm, elegant moment of profound change. The confrontation with our planet’s limits measurably adjusted our inner compass, and individually a collective mindset emerged, proving our journey, like nature’s own, is not linear but dynamic.

So, while America’s election results triggered an emotional watershed in the U.S., it is not too surprising that people around the world shared a “wow” moment of bliss. It came from the natural imperative toward balance, the urgent drive to transcend selfishness, both individually and nationally, for the benefit of Earth—the canvas of our existence. And, miraculously, the euphoria that comes with exercising the body comes also with exercising the human spirit.

Most encouraging of all, the ramp rate of human evolution, moving up and down history’s chart in small sections but with an overall upward trend and spike toward higher coherence, is a pattern so akin to nature’s own as to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration. As a result, as nature presses us to keep pace on its terms, we stand to react accordingly, instinctively, positively.

Earth’s prosperity has become our own salvation. Welcome to the prospect of a healthy green collar economy, where nature is the true superpower and defines our approach to a global industry united in its defense.

Others will write eloquently about the historical impact of the 2008 election, of the presidential choice, and of the terrible disconnect during past administrations and human history in general that helped fuel the sense of joy and relief. But in terms of the human capacity to secure a triumphant future, this event washed away a bitter paralyzing illusion of apathy that for so long kept us alone with our private thoughts. The magnitude of that reaction acknowledges a new freedom to feel and pursue an innate purpose together.

After the 2004 election, President Bush spoke of the political capital he had gained and his intent to spend it. More than any president in history, in 2008 Barack Obama gained the global currency of emotional popularity. It was the second such reaction to an American achievement; the first coming with the July 1969 success of Apollo 11 when humans landed on the moon. Both reactions are widely considered as “look what we accomplished” moments not in terms of Americans but of humankind. They are proof of human nature’s urgent eagerness to evolve.

On the night of Nov. 4, 2008, we shared a global consciousness of our state of existence far beyond politics and indeed beyond words. For the first time ever, we escaped the gravity of fear and selfishness without a spoken thought. This sense of evolution was so spontaneous because it was so necessary, an indicator that bodes well for the task ahead. With this coherent leap — a heartbeat in the miracle of macro human potential — we now possess the beauty of a multicultural civilization with a transcultural mindset, even if that mindset is subconscious.

Before his passing, I imagined Dr. King would be president by the year 2000. Today it seems somehow more significant that we overcame this challenge after 40 years of additional brutal hardship and, most significant of all, that so many people across the world sensed such a uniting moment was necessary in these United States to prepare the human family for the monumental task of repairing our precious home.

We have at last become collectively aware that we have a common origin and future, and a clear and present obligation to the mutuality of a global environment. This understanding active in our biology is our neural interface with nature, and courageously and vigorously obeying it inherently offers nobility.

The elegance of the election moment rose from the spontaneous embrace of our dynamic inner selves, and the more we recognize this process as the product of nature’s self-correcting mechanism, the less resistance we will encounter in the only race that ultimately matters: the race to transcend old habits and take the next step up the ladder.

The renewable source of inspiration that is nature’s imperative unites us in the dawn of the Green Age. It is a silent mandate that flows from the heart of all that connects us. Thus, the most difficult race imaginable promises abundant rewards as we stand up to adapt our systems to defend our planet together.

America heals today and rises anew, and while we still need an absolute global cascade of “wow” moments and have mountains of dirty laundry to clean and hang out to dry in Washington, a strong current sweeps us forward with a guarantee much nicer to know than to imagine: Our elegant nature, or call it God, is on our side.

Brian Bogart is a UO master’s of science candidate specializing in green-defense policy development. Contact him at bdbogart@gmail.com