by Jose A. Colon Rivera

Created on: February 21, 2008   Last Updated: March 19, 2008

http://thinkingamerican.blogtownhall.com/

Since September 2001, our Nation has been assaulted by a series of non structured situations. Who can forget September 11, 2001; or Katrina, or the war in Afghanistan, or the war in Iraq? How about the soaring price of gas and the subprime loan debacle? The human psyche, when confronted with crisis, attempts to structure the situation and do two things.

Number one: it tries to answer the question "why".

We know that we were attacked in 2001 because a small band of intolerant religious fanatics just want to wipe out everybody that does not think like them. I should know, I have being in the Middle East and engage many Muslims, specially Kurdish and Sunni, in conversation. The war, most people just can not seem to understand that there were more reasons to go to war than the weapons of mass destruction, either way, most can not understand why we are still in the Middle East. Natural disasters are attributed to global warming, which most really don't understand what it is. The sub prime loan situation is beyond the capacity of most Americans to understand unless of course, we spend the time and money to take a few college classes in economics.

Number two: it tries to answer the question "how can I fix it".

Over a thousand years of religious disagreement between Muslims and Christians will not be solved overnight. Whether you belief in global warming or not, it really does not make a difference. Most people feel powerless to fix the problem. The war, some try to stop it by protesting or by voting for another political party. The bottom line is that the situation is more complex than what politicians make it seem. The sub prime loan situation is beyond our capacity to fix.

We can conclude that when we can not explain why the course of our Nation is going from bad to worst, we feel depress and anxious. And if we add to it the fact that we can not really see a clear solution to all these problems, we fall in despair. To quote a Hispanic comedian: "Quien podra defendernos?" or in English, who can protect us?

We gravitate to whoever provides a plausible solution to our problem or crisis. Here comes Barack Obama. A charismatic young man with a gift for public speaking, with a rallying cry: "yes we can", and a platform based on change. EUREKA. LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.

The problem is not Senator Obama, but the psyche of the American voter. Americans, for the most part are very passionate individuals. We follow our heart, and when

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