Why Fight It?

[Sapphocrat]

... In its purest form, liberalism rests on a value system in which there is an innate understanding that all people and all things are interconnected, and interdependent. In other words, I may think I live my life separately from yours, and in a mundane, everyday way, I do; but in reality, the actions I take affect you, because they affect someone else, and that person's actions affect another person, and so on and on.

Maybe you've heard of the "butterfly effect" (part of Nobel Prize winner Ilya Prigogine's work on chaos theory), in which a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the planet could conceivably set off a chain of events culminating in a meteorological disaster on the other side of the planet.

<snip>

Over the past few months, I've been grappling with the the reality that George W. Bush will probably re-install himself in the White House for another four years. I'm not as good at blanket denial as Republicans are, so I've had to deal with this nagging, horrifying prospect, while continuing to make the case that another four years of Dim Son is as good as death for our great and wondrous 227-year experiment in democracy.

In my darkest hours of despair, I've been able to proceed only by clinging fast to the idea that there is always hope. As much as I label myself a jaded cynic, the truth is that I am cursed by indomitable and terminal optimism. I think this, too -- coupled with a committed willingness to shake off the denial of reality and grapple with problems as they really are -- is a prerequisite for liberalism. I believe, and will continue to believe, that I can make a difference -- even if my contribution begins and ends with flapping my wings on one side of the planet: I may never know of the typhoon it might cause elsewhere; the important thing is that I acted on my belief -- I had faith. (That's a fundamental belief of Christianity, too: Faith is action based on belief.)

Staying with that thought, while lightening the atmosphere considerably, let's turn to one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books: Horton Hears a Who. ...

URL:

http://blogs.salon.com/0002551/

or:

http://blogs.salon.com/0002551/2003/12/16.html#a564

[Eric J in MN]

1. So what are you hopeful about? (nt)

nt

[Sapphocrat]

2. I'm hopeful for only one thing...

That something I may say or write will have the "butterfly effect." I can't know that it will, and even if it does, I may not live to see it. But it's the only thing that keeps me going.