Despair Not!

[babylonsister]

http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2009/11/27/despair-not/

Despair Not!
American Street



I heard something rather profound the other day from Thom Hartmann on why he’s not discouraged by the nearly impossible fight for progressive reform against the well funded opposition to just about everything, the impotence of the Democrats, the marginalization of any and all advocates for change and the glacial pace of legislation.

We’re on the right side of history.

That’s it. It may not seem like much but it’s more than enough to hang your hat on. The big picture, throughout the overall “arch of history” we have made tremendous progress in creating a truly just and enlightened society, world-wide, in a relatively short period of time.

snip//

Are we perfect? Oh hell no, not by a long shot. I want wars eliminated, unnecessary, not just made more humane with less “collateral damage” and fought for more noble reasons than merely coveting another nation’s resources. I want universal, single-payer health-care for all, but I won’t despair if all we get is a watered-down “public-option” with opt-in/out triggers as we tick off another check-mark on the progress report. We just keep on fighting.

I don’t want more of our men and women dying in the Middle East, and I certainly don’t want to bear any more financial cost for the adventures; but if a slow but inevitable draw-down in Iraq is paired with finally having a tangible goal in Afghanistan along with an exit strategy is all we can responsibly expect under the circumstances, one cannot argue it sure beats the inanity that got us in there to begin with.

Today, when we talk about freedom, it isn’t about freeing slaves. Spreading freedom now is about the free exchange of ideas, even those dangerous to those in power and would rather censor such thought-crime. It’s about the right to vote and the free flow of goods and services, not eliminating forced labor. We go on strikes for better wages, working conditions and benefits, not to fight dangerous sweat-shops populated by child-workers, not here, not anymore.

At the risk of being misquoted as unpatriotic, I don’t want the United States to be considered exceptional in any way. I want the whole world to adopt our most progressive values, as much as most of Europe has done and in many ways surpassed us, and I want us to continue to move that ball.

Don’t despair. History is moving in a liberal direction at a faster pace than any generation before us could imagine. In the long … long … run, there’s not a thing the naysayers and obstructionists, nor the professional media propagandists can do. Neither the Becks nor Boehners, Limbaughs nor Liebermans, not even silly little Sarah Palin can do much to stop the historical march of progress.

[drm604]

1. None of which helps people who need healthcare NOW.

None of which helps people who need jobs NOW.
None of which helps people who can't pay their mortgage NOW.
None of which helps people who want to get married NOW.

One could argue that at least future generations will benefit from this slooooow pace of progress, but they may not if something isn't done about climate change NOW.

I apologize for raining on your post, I guess I'm just in a bad mood this morning, but simply being on the right side of history doesn't help current generations and may not even help future ones.

[babylonsister]

2. I understand your frustration and anger; I have a lot of my own, too.

But this guy is taking the long view, and I do like to read something positive once in awhile vs. the doom and gloom.

:hi:

[drm604]

3. I hope you didn't take my post personally.

It wasn't meant to be. :hi:
It wasn't even a slam at the author. I just wanted to point out that something like climate change can't wait for slow progress and may undermine everything else.

[babylonsister]

5. Not at all; no worries. nt

[WhiteTara]

7. There are no jobs on a dead planet

quote from ELF (Earth Liberation Front)

[NC_Nurse]

4. I like to think that maybe humanity will progress fast enough to dodge the

environmental destruction bullet. Not to mention the threat of wars and terrorists. Personally, I think
our fate is much more based on our wasteful exploitation of the natural world than on the threat from
human violence. I get nervous that it will be way too late by the time people wake up and realize climate change is
for real. But I remain cautiously optimistic. Why not?

Thanks for posting something positive, I appreciate your continuing resistance to joining the whining brigade. It really gets old
seeing all the despair these days. Not that I've been having a great year, I have not. I just don't want to add to the negativity around here. I
don't believe it helps anyone or anything.

I am going to concentrate on what I have to be thankful for this weekend. Posts like this always help. Hurray, babylonsister!
:patriot:

[GeorgeGist]

6. Who is We?