Ridiculous Opinions #257
Thoughts on liberalism and conservatism by someone who just read a long article about Lou Reed's "Dirty Boulevard".
Have you ever heard that phrase, “If you aren’t a liberal when you’re young, you have no heart, but if you aren’t a middle-aged conservative, you have no head.”? I’ve been thinking about that quote a lot lately (the origins of which can be found here). I’ve been thinking about it, because it’s bullsh*t.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more and more liberal, if not leftist. Perhaps it’s because we grew up without a great deal of money. I empathize with those without means a bit more than I probably should, but I have to countenance that with my general loathing of humanity. When it comes to liberalism, my feelings generally fall along these lines:
That’s what is wrong with having leftist thoughts and ideas. If I were to sit with you, individually, and share my opinions of the world, laying out exactly why we should care for our fellow human beings, you would no doubt agree with me on the majority of issues, and I might agree with some of your counter-points as well.
But when we speak of the collective society in which we live, we deal with idiots. Everyone starts to share the same brain, simple ideas are thrust to the forefront, and the unwashed masses will choose the easiest path forward with very little forethought or care about the future in front of them.
So perhaps that’s where the phrase above comes from. The older one gets, the more they don’t want to think! And thus, their thoughts become conservative. It’s hard work to empathize. It’s hard work to think about consequences of one’s actions. It’s hard work to see a point of view other than the one that is three-feet in front of you at any given moment.
I say all of this because lately, I, too, have become tired of thinking. Maybe that’s a collective problem of society. We are tired of being challenged. We are tired of feeling the stress that results from our actions. We all want a mental break from the low-grade hum of our own anxiety about the world.
I, for one, think about this all the time. The job that I do is mentally taxing. Having to come up with lessons for five different classes every two days and do a song-and-dance for those children as soon as they walk into the room and worry about whether or not I can justify the poor mark that I gave little Timmy because he couldn’t be faffed to aim his camera in the right direction because he was thinking about his latest notification on social media…those things are hard. Bailing hay is hard. Thinking is hard as well. They are equally taxing and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.
This summer we were at Disney World and I kept threatening Tracey that I was going to quit everything and go be a bus driver around the parks, because I wouldn’t have to think! All I’d have to do is just drive from one place to the next. I could go home in the evening and not have work follow me there. Physically hard, but mentally easy. I’m fine with that.
And I suppose that’s the overall feeling that society has as they get older and it’s why, I suppose, that people like Trump are popular with a certain segment of the populace. Conservatives nowadays operate under a certain brand, which says, “Hey, friends…you’re thinking too much. You know when those dirty liberals make you feel bad for your opinions on immigrants and equality? That makes you feel bad, right? Well, if you stick with us, you don’t have to feel that bad for thinking that way!”
That’s the key to current conservatism. It caters to one’s most base thoughts; that reptilian part of your brain that operates in a fight-or-flight existence. And thus, as you get older, you want to become more and more conservative, because you don’t want to think about how you feel; you just want to feel.
But that hasn’t happened to me. I find that I want to fight more now that I’m older. The glory of age is the glory of being confident in one’s opinion and being not-afraid to say what you think. I’ve reached a point now where I no longer want to ignore the casual racism that surrounds me. I don’t want to ignore injustice. I don’t want to ignore my utter and complete loathing of the wealthy and how they flaunt their lavish lifestyles. I want to call everything out.
So, no. My heart is still beating strong within me in my fifties and my head is as clear as ever. For me, it’s not about reaching out across the divide to get others on my side. It’s about doing the right thing, now when it’s convenient, but all of the time.
It all reminds me of this column from 2017 that has stuck in my head ever since.
The most salient point of the article is summed up in its title: “I Don't Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People”.
The article was written by someone who was young (at the time), and thus the quote at the beginning of this little essay. But you know what? I still feel the exact same way at my current age. It’s not just young people that feel these things. I agree with everything inside of that article. And if you don’t, I ask the question: What broke you?
Because something has clearly worn you down to a nub. Something has removed your heart from your body and replaced it with an ugly little piece of black coal. And I wonder what it was that did that to you and whether you can get it back. I hope you can.
EPILOGUE
Please forgive the one-day delay in this lovely newsletter. We have been fortunate enough to have both Harper and Abbey in the house for the last two weeks and yesterday, we had to say goodbye to the Abster as she flew back to Toronto to start her school year. Thus, we spent a nice day having a very expensive breakfast at Tasha’s and packing all afternoon.
Have I told you that I am the master packist for international flights? I have the uncanny ability to be able to know, by feel, how much 23kg (50lbs) is. This stems from our first flight as a family to Ghana in 2006, where we took SEVENTEEN 23kg bags with us on the flight. We were moving to Africa with a 1 and a 3-year old.
I regret nothing.
