“We love our King,” proclaims Kingal, a Bhutanese man I am chatting with.  I have heard this sentiment throughout Bhutan.  The people here keep pictures of him in their homes, in their businesses; they say prayers for him.  It is as if he is a part of their lives, and “love” is not a casual, metaphorical term. It seems to accurately describe the emotion they have for him.

This year is momentous for this tiny Himalayan kingdom: they are celebrating 100 years of the Wangchuck dynasty, and the fifth King, Druk Gyalpo Jingme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck,  was just coronated on November 6th — the date deemed auspicious by “three enlightened astrologers.”  Thursday was the eighth day of the ninth month of the earth male rat year.  But just as notably, Bhutan had its first election in March 2008.  The Kings deemed it important that Bhutan transition to a parlimentary democracy, with the king in a background role, much like the royal family of England.   (more…)

Last night, I watched Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, streamed over the Internet to my room in Toronto by Al-Jazeera. I was thinking of my younger sister, who lay in a delivery room in America at that moment.

She gave birth to her first baby girl at 9:51 p.m. last night, nine minutes before Obama took the podium at Mile High Stadium. I was thinking about how this man will have a disturbing amount of influence on my newborn niece’s life. That 8-pound-6-ounce baby girl doesn’t have the power to mitigate carbon emissions, find alternative sources of fuel, or repair a broken financial system. Opening her eyes for the first time, she has no idea what she’s being born into. She’s relying on Obama and his promise of genuine leadership to create a situation in which she can live a decent life. It’s the current policymakers, more so than her hardworking parents, that are going to decide how bad climate change gets and where our energy comes from and which wars, if any, we are embroiled in. Of course, the US is ostensibly a democracy, so it is impossible and unfair to put the burden on Obama’s leadership alone: it requires all US citizens to support him, influence him, challenge him, and go beyond him. (more…)