I went to a friend’s house yesterday for a baby shower. The majority of the partygoers were over thirty. Most of these folks were hard working, tax paying and family oriented. I shouldn’t have been blown away when they thought similarly to me.
The old adage is a gem: “If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.”
My friends, Dan and Kara, are having a baby. I met Dan when I was six years old. I had just moved to Massachusetts from California. I remember the first time I met Dan. I showed up to first grade in red short shorts, a tie-die shirt, long surfer hair, and white kicks. I went over to him and a group of kids playing in a circle. I asked to play with them, and Dan said to me, “No, fag.” I did an about-face, and cried. Welcome to Massachusetts I thought. Oh, and how sweet the Common Wealth was!
Over the years Dan and I became good friends. He was also one of the few friends here who made an effort to reconnect when I moved back to the area. I was at an all time low, and Dan was a true ally. I see Dan exceling. He loves his career, has a fantastic wife, and soon to be son. Dan is an inspiration to me. Dan doesn’t have time to complain (and he could complain about all sorts of stuff). He pushes forward, onward and upward.
I thought about adulthood, leadership, friendship, community, and the future on my drive back from the baby shower. I think about where we’re going as a nation.
I reflect on my own development. I used to be a moral relativist, vegan, Communist. Then I moved to New York City, and lived in Bed Stuy. I read the Times every day, and every day that paper told me about the Oppressed and the Oppressors. Every day I’d read the paper, ride my bike into the city to work, and crash only to do it again. I worked, paid taxes while my neighbors didn’t work. They were able to live life without contributing. These folks were also my friends, but it was frustrating to see. I questioned this dynamic. I loved these folks as extended family, and saw that this dynamic was detrimental to them. I had no idea of how to fix it. It was instilled in them through generations.
This was part of a philosophical rebirth for me. It was a reformatting of my ideology. I went to public schools in the North East. I went to art school in Miami. I lived primarily on the coasts. I grew up with coastal elites. There was no other way to think. There was no other way to speak. I got out in the world with all of my naiveté, and was confronted with reality. It was like a nice solid punch in the face. I had to reassess what I thought. I needed to analyze where my information was coming from. I hadn’t learned about the Frankfurt School. I hadn’t learned about evolution, and how people function. I hadn’t comprehended that sometimes we haven't really considered the facts. Mostly, we run on feelings.
I’ve talked with many people who feel as I do. I’ve talked to LGBT, Latinos, blacks, whites, Jews, and all crossovers that feel as I do. It isn’t about melanin, no melanin, reproductive organs or anything of the sort. It’s about our hearts and minds. That’s what binds us together.
I don’t mean we agree on everything! I mean that we agree to disagree. We believe in the first amendment. We understand that no country or human being is perfect. We all have demons. America is about as good as it gets though. Nowhere else in the world do we have the same amount of freedom of expression. I dare you to find another country that grants its people as much freedom as we have here.
I have hope for Dan and Kara’s son. I have hope for the youngest of generations. I have a dream that one day we will obliterate the mainstream lies. I have a dream that one day the radical left and the radical right will be seen as jokes. Many of us see this already.
I don’t have faith in the Millenials at the moment. I can’t really blame them. They’re young, have little experience, don’t listen to their elders (unless they teach college classes on the Oppression Olympics). Mostly they have been radicalized to be activists. This is an odd thing to push on people who have limited life experience. I’m not so sure college upon high school graduation is a great idea. I think a little time competing in the free market would be quite the antidote to radicalization.
There is little humility with youth. I must have been exactly the same. In fact, I think my father told me so. I implore the youth to read more. I ask that they open up their minds to ideas outside of the institution. I know we all want to fight the supposed power when we're young. I know I did. If you truly want to be radical then fight the institution. Down with the Man or Woman/Zie/Xe/Zir, too! There is a stranglehold on the youth. I just hope that when they get to be thirty-five they wise up. If you kiddos really want to be radicals then please give the big proverbial finger to the institution. Arm yourselves with truth and open ears. How radical would that be?