pith…

Is it wrong to wish I lived in a different era? One where I didn’t feel shame and embarrassment over what we have become and are increasingly becoming. I feel no optimism for the future I was told to expect, It isn’t that I wish for something we never were, rather my desire is for something we should have been, and could easily have achieved. Unfortunately idealism is dead, that cold corpse was laid to rest long before I was born, but the ghost still haunts us, giving glimpses of what could have been. The remains of that noble spirit are dug up every year by the next generation of college freshman but are returned before there is a resurrection of hope. It is true that some people retain some of the essence of idealism, but the form is highly compromised. Those that retain hope and idealism are regarded as apostles to a dead and debunked religion. The reality of our ideals are perverse, Justice is for those who can pay for it, equality is for those born with wealth, happiness is for those who trample over others, and freedom is living in a cage. I know there are no absolutes, which is why I too am compromised. I believe I see the world as close to reality as I am able, ugly, vain, and cruel. I long for the time when I saw the future as hopeful, a time when our mistakes would not be repeated, and when we as Americans could truly say we are a positive influence in the world. That idealism is gone, and it won’t ever return, perhaps thats as it should be. Seeing the world as it is can lead to wisdom, but it rarely leads to hope.

We could have been the nation of hope, we could have been a true light for human dignity and freedom, but those things are now lies we use to justify our empire. Our friendly paternalism has changed into global abuse. Spreading democracy by the sword, peace through occupation, national advancement by foreign exploitation. We can tell ourselves that America is a force for good, that our actions create a better world with a positive future, but thats a lie. Our current path is conflict, exploitation, and increasing levels of hatred. People do not hate us because of our freedom, they hate us because of the things we do, the policies we support, the wars we fund. Is this what idealism sounds like? The desire for change, the accepting of principals based on human compassion and not self-interest? I wish that were so, the reality is that this path we are on is self-destructive, there will be no America we recognize if we continue to act without regard for the rest of the world. The pragmatic self-interested person should realize this path we are taking leads to a future where all the problems we now face are multiplied. It is not idealism that commands change, it is the acceptance of a harsh reality that does. Change for the better, but change principally because its in our best interest to look for a different way.