A Penny for Your Thoughts

Liberalism. What does it mean to you? These days, I really don't know about it. I suppose it was always a concept I supported, especially being from where I'm from. Some of the new liberalism where seeing these days, though, is just as biased and silly as anything else. It's now just a trend. It was always a trend! You might say. I suppose there's a nugget of truth to that, but I always liked it.

Liberalism in America, or social liberalism, as we might call it, has come a long way. It stems back to the founding of this nation, rebellion against the British, the common rights of man, the things we need to survive and live happy healthy lives. "Nature abhors a vaccum," fairly illustrates the notion of liberalism, in my opinion. When things become too tight and restrictive, people begin to rebel.

And the big problem, right now, is that the liberalism was meant to serve the people, to make their lives better. Now, it's just a badge for the rich; yet another status signal that no one else can afford to make. It's too bad. I suppose the progressives in this country have finally been ruined, and we are once again left with the same, dogmatic rotation. It brings a tear to my eye, America had a chance, it seems.

But there's hope! Obama is a good president! You might say. I agree. I think Obama is a great president so far. He is fighting a difficult battle, and I don't want to make his job any more difficult than it already is. However, things aren't cool were I'm from, and most of the places I go. Believe me, if I thought we were doing well, I'd tell you. But they're not, not what I see. I see a lot of things falling apart. I see the spirit, a lost generation that was so hopeful, being turned away.

It's not safe sometimes to believe in the spirit of freedom. You run risks. Liberalism is like that. Think of the American patriots at the founding of this nation. There were some who probably said, "Hey, do you want to get us all killed?" when other people talked about rebelling. That's something to consider these days, dealing with the tight job market, the lack of diversity, the status quo that seems to discourage socialization.

Sometimes the older people tell us, "You young people don't seem to have any fun these days." I'll allow that. I don't think there's ever been a more miserable time to be a young person these days. There's no consensus, there's no stability. You get hustled around, and if you get in trouble, they try you as an adult. What a bunch of hell! I guess the problem is that the American economy has stagnated. The middle class has been executed, and its left a generation and a half with little else but misgivings and unrequited ambitions. We're left with a tremendous apathy about America. Maybe it's not the place to be anymore.

Dealing with that is kind of tough. I suppose we have to fight on, and trust that if what we believe is true, then we'll make it. I guess you have to learn to celebrate life, to believe in and enjoy the things you've earned, or still have. I don't know, my spirits have fallen, but I still try to keep going, and believing.