I called this blog, “We Were Right” because the opinions expressed here are intended to reflect a sensibility borne out of the sixties generation from which I come. It reflects my belief that when I and those of my age were marching and protesting and expressing our idealistic view of what the world could be like, well, we were right.
In my first entry I recalled part of a song I once wrote:
We marched and sang and we screamed out loud
We were sure about our fight
We wore signs for peace; we were young and proud
And I think that we were right
Recently, I find myself confronting the next generation and it’s ideals – the GenXer’s. In particular, I speak of the support given by so many of that generation for the Democratic Presidential candidates with the most idealistic views. And don’t get me started about “The Squad.”
The GenXer’s I talk to and read about are all for Bernie and Elizabeth and Corey and Kamala. And they want to push hard for free college, and for no private health insurance, and for reparations for black Americans and so on and so on. Now, I agree with all of those goals. I would love to live in a country where those goals could now win an election. Unfortunately, I don’t. I live here.
I cannot imagine that the swing voters who we need will be lining up to vote to raise their taxes so that others can get the free college that they had to go into hock to pay for. Nor will they rush to the polls to eliminate their private insurance. You can bet your bippy (whatever that is) that the Republicans will conjure up images of crowds of the sick and dying crushed together at a DMV-like office trying desperately to get coverage for life saving treatment. And reparations? It won’t take an advertising genius more than thirty seconds to create a video of a government worker delivering a check to LeBron James’s mansion.
This Republican counter-attack will, of course, be bullshit. But, when has that ever stopped them? It is the coin of their realm.
There is only one overriding goal for anyone who cares about our country – Beat Donald Trump. The Republicans have their hideous chants – “Lock Her Up” and now “Send Her Back.” The Democrats should have their own. I suggest: “Beat Donald Trump”, “Beat Donald Trump”, “Beat Donald Trump.”
The GenXer’s, too, want to beat Orange Julius (Caesar), but their problem is that they think they can accomplish this while, at the same time, electing one of the more extreme candidates. I respect their ideals. I relate to their ideals. I once “marched and sang and screamed out loud.”
But, here’s the thing. Just because you are idealistic doesn’t mean you are choosing the best path to achieve your ideals. Just because you are idealistic doesn’t mean that you are right The new activist generation is idealistic, but they are wrong. We were idealistic, but (and here it comes again) we were right.
If the 2020 election were not an existential threat to how we live, then we could risk trying to be idealistic. If we lost, well, it wouldn’t be the best thing, but we could deal with it. I desperately wanted Obama to beat McCain, but a President McCain would certainly not have forced me into a drug induced coma. That’s not the case now. This is not an election that we can afford to lose. We cannot take that risk. I have started to store up the drugs I’ll need to survive another term for President Trump, if even it is survivable.
So, you idealistic GenXer’s, take it from an aging idealist. The old saw is true – we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. The more we present ourselves as unacceptable to the people we have to recruit, the more we are working against our goals, not for them. Be patient. Let’s just get control. After that, well, maybe someday, we can try to go further.
If we lose this time, we may not get another chance.
We were right 