the elections in poland
i'm thankful that when i was talking to a about the elections in poland this sunday earlier this week, she said, telling me that the polls at the time indicated a 50/50 chance of ousting the government of the right wing authoritarian ruling party: "It is ground breaking, last 2 elections the chances were slim! / It means something is changing / I'm excited xd" and i found her excitement and hope poignant and also i am so deeply cynical about the possibility of almost anything good happening politically, so i found it, in my mind, tragically poignant, since i knew in advance that despite all of the energy and belief and possibility the bad thing would just happen again as it always does and this morning she posted this ballot box picture to her story which just made me think of the picture i took of deborah after we voted in 2016
which we all know how that turned out and anyway time passed and nothing is certain but the exit polls indicate a turnout of 72.9% (the highest since the fall of communism), with more 18-29 year olds voting than people over 60, and it's likely that some of the fascist creep of the current administration can be reversed and a new government will be formed (which centrism who knows what it will amount to but better than what the status quo has been). it feels hollow and shallow to be thankful with what is happening to the people in gaza but i am thankful for this.