Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Un-Sexy Truths


Hello folks. Welcome back to The Traveling Now.

Traveling Now? Was That The Blog about Twerking, or what?


After another amazingly long absence the Traveling Now is back. Chide me for my idleness! It can't be any worse than the grief I give myself.

But I will give you what I feel is a reasonable excuse for my slack: The Traveling Now is my place to post what I think of as my public outrage - my anger at the world at large. It’s all stuff I am willing to share.

These days, however, my public outrage takes a way back seat to my private outrage, and I'm not so keen on sharing that. It’s hard for me to talk about myself in a public forum: like, chillingly hard. Some months ago, a good buddy of mine asked me to get up and talk to his political group about how student loans were fucking up my life (full disclosure: they were and are, but I'm not going to talk about them here). I am perfectly comfortable, nay, at home, speaking in front of groups, but my heart raced when he asked me about it.

Anyway, here is me talking about the public bits of my private outrage. 

The Un-Sexy Truth Blues


I am a centrist. I believe that moderation and balance are key to a happy life, a happy community, a happy society. Extremes, while exciting and sexy and easy to get caught up in, generally lead to unhappiness and so I am against them.

But being a true ideological moderate is a bitch. Nobody sees centrism as anything but a milquetoast retreat from more exciting world views, a kind of retreat from being confrontational. 

But the true centrist has to embrace some difficult truths, the kind of truths that take some courage to accept. I argue that it’s more difficult and more courageous to be a political centrist, because the centrist must forgo the easy and natural path of self-exultation and embrace the difficult truths about society, and about themselves.

Ready for this?

First Un-Sexy Truth: The World is Complicated. 


One of the charms of every flavor of extremism is that it embraces an easy to read, cookie cutout of a world view. We are RIGHT and NORMAL and GOOD! They are WRONG and WEIRD and BAD!  We have to stop THEM no matter WHAT THE COST!

See how sexy that is? Wahoo! Whatever extreme point of view you believe, the notion of canonizing your own position and allies while demonizing the position and adherents of any other point of view is as natural and satisfying as masturbation. And, as it turns out, is just as effective at resolving out world's problems.



If it was effective this movie would have brought peace to the Middle East

The truth is that with the exception of the odd moron, lunatic, and sociopath, nearly everyone's politics have some good and valid points. And some bad points, and some insane points.

Part of the problem is that political issues are extremely complicated - almost unfathomably so, I imagine, if you could somehow see it all from some omniscient point of view.  Imagine the politicking that has to take place for even a simple decision.

For example, certain folks in Town X believe that a traffic signal should go up at a certain cross roads which is getting busier and busier. Sounds simple, right?

Nope. Is this crossroad the one in Town X in most dire need of a new traffic signal, or would the majority of the public be better served by putting one up elsewhere? How long will the instillation of the traffic signal disrupt traffic, and what businesses or family homes will be affected by it? And for how long? How do you decide which of the many groups of contractors should be given the contract to put up the traffic light? If the contracting company is minority owned, woman owned, beholden to some higher environmental standard – should that weigh in on the town’s decision of who to hire to put the light up? Is putting a traffic signal up the best use of the town’s money? Would more lives be saved if that money was used to hire more policemen, or firemen, or more prisons? All of the money used to put the signal up will be taxpayer money – is this what will best please the taxpayers? Should taxpayers have a direct voice in where their money is spent, or should they trust their elected representatives to make those decisions for them. Some taxpayers don’t want money spent on anything, they want as little government and government regulation as possible – what about their needs? I could go on and on.

And that's just the practical issues. The real bullshit begins with politics. I am the mayor of Town X - it this light going to hurt, or help, my chances of being re-elected? Is this going to piss off any of my cronies, the powerful ones that really make sure shit gets done in town? The ugly reality is that politics is a system and the system begins and ends with people. And I don't care who you are, if you get faced with choosing making the best decision for your town, and making the decision that will help you keep your job and paycheck so you can keep feeding your family . . . I am sure you see my point.

Clearly these are all questions that can be answered – perhaps not ultimately answered, but answered enough for a given value of practicality. Mind you, each answer will likely change the answer of the next question you have to ask.

Apply this kind of thinking to decisions like whether or not the United States should bomb Syria – and you must -  and you see politics for the unfathomably complicated business it is. And there is no getting around that. People who tells you that they are just a simple man with simple solutions for what need to happen in the world are lying to you, well intentioned or not.

Second Unsexy Truth: Some of Your Beliefs are Assuredly Wrong


There is a very good reason to consider the point of view of the people who stand in opposition to your beliefs. They are not wrong about everything, and you are not right about everything.

Now, here is some paradox for your ass: the truth is that you must be wrong about something, otherwise you would be, what? The Smartest Person in the World? God?

But if you go around doubting yourself all the time, you become an ineffective person who can’t make decisions. 

Most folks solve this paradox by assuming that they are right all the time, and then adjusting their expectations or their beliefs when they catch themselves out being wrong about something. 
(My personal advice? Don’t try to solve the paradox, recognize that it is a paradox and work with it. Accept that sometimes you are wrong; go forth boldly like you aren’t. Realize that it’s okay to be wrong, it’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s definitely okay to change your mind when presented with better facts. Ta daa!)


Now go walk on the rice paper! 

Anyway, unless you are God or the Smartest Person in the World, other folks have a point of view and often facts that, if you can truly internalize them, can either moderate your views, or (gasp! can it be?) change your mind completely.

And in seeing things from the point of view of somebody who is just dead wrong, you will gain greater insight into humanity, as well as into yourself and your beliefs. Win-win baby!

Third Un-Sexy Truth – Meaningful Change Takes Time

And I’ve said it here again and again

For example, let’s talk Gay Marriage. Excuse me . . . Marriage Equality.

Public Opinion on Marriage Equality (and just the fact that the phrase "marriage equality" is now in the public consciousness shows how far we have come) has changed more rapidly than any other divisive social issue that I can think of.

But if you think about it, it is also going incredibly slowly. Homosexuality has been a part of our world since forever. We see again and again that some people are simply born gay – it’s not a perversion, it’s not a choice . . . it’s just something that happens.

Except that there are people willing to use every means necessary, every dirty political trick, every false argument, every heresy, to fight not only against Marriage Equality, but to allow them to keep treating homosexuality as anything other than a perversion on a level with child molestation.

To change the world, you need to change hearts and minds. But what about those who dig their heels in, the people whose very identity is wrapped up in their old mode of thought? Well, you have to change the next generation. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. 

So what happens is if you work your whole life to change the world, you might . . . might! see some small change before you die. But the real change might not be seen for three, or thirteen, or thirty generations. And you have to do the work anyway, even though you probably will not be able to appreciate the changes you bring about. How's that for some un-sexy?

The big mistakes have to be unlearned, and sometimes that takes generation. Patience, Padawans! 
Okay that’s enough ugly, non-sexy truth for one day. 
Go forth cooler, Friends! 

In My Life

So I just moved to Salem MA! That means no more pawn shop stories, and hopefully less stories about the racists I meet every day. Hopefully, it also means more stories about lobster, cool people, North Shore music and culture, and tourism. Watch this space!

In Conclusion . . .

My buddy just started a very hip blog on politics and culture. Check him out and see what the brother has to say!

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