Isn't it possible, though, that the voters are simply put off by "progressivism"? We had this crazy thought when we read a piece by one Peter Gabel of Tikkun, who describes encountering "many folks" who are "depressed" since the election (quoting verbatim):
There have been times when I've carried my longing to the polling place like a great burden on my back, knowing that although I was going to put it out there when I cast my ballot out into the universe, my gesture would almost certainly not be reciprocated by enough others to make the national declare an announcement of the opening of our hearts. There have also been times, a few, when I had a spring in my step because I had a sense that due to a happy confluence of historical forces, people were ready to take the risk of making themselves vulnerable to their longing for . . . each other.
Such a moment occurred when we came out into public and elected Barack Obama in 2008, but that moment . . . call it a "we-moment," a moment when we decided through the act of voting to announce ourselves and so to come into existence as an idealistic, hopeful, potentially loving community . . . that moment has been slip-slidin' away ever since. Why? Not because we one by one ran back into our withdrawn private worlds, but because Barack decided not to reciprocate our vote by remaining out here/there with us, because he was afraid of the vulnerability himself and the risk of some catastrophic negation of his essence if, as he feared, we were not here/there after all.
To our mind, this passage captures the essence of left-wing "progressives." Their personal fulfillment depends on the exercise of political power to control the lives of others. That's why Americans find today's Democratic Party creepy and repellent--why they voted it out of power at the earliest opportunity.
No comments:
Post a Comment