The Change I Need

Okay, I think as long as I do not mention names, then I can get away with writing about politics from an unbiased point of view as a service member. No new blog required. Besides, finding the time to follow one blog let alone write one is difficult enough.

But first, I would like to mention I took my trip to Yosemite, which was definitely necessary. It was a nice change from my usual week in, week out routine with work. I took the Green Tortoise travel bus, which is one of those typical, intentional community travel coaches that force strangers to meet each other. I got the hang of it. Each traveler helps out in preparing meals and cleaning up. The seating on the bus converts to beds for sleeping.

I hiked down Glacier Point, up and down Lembhert Dome, saw Mono Lake and broke my "no liquor ever again" rule. There were travelers from England, Ireland, Israel, Australia, Siberia. I proposed we sit around the campfire and play several rounds of telephone. The results were hilarious.

So a vacation was definitely the change I needed.

But I am now back at work. So maybe it was not the change I needed. Of course, I joined AmeriCorps* VISTA and moved to California because there was not much happening for me in Michigan. Plus, my high school friends in New York have their own thing going for them, and the places I'd like to live and work are either impossibly affordable or in Denmark. Why Denmark? Because it's BORING. I like boring. Especially during this election year, with all the punditry and masturb-oratory out there, I feel I could live in a Lackluster Democracy rather than a Blockbuster Democracy.

So now on to the letters on politics. In previous posts I have talked about taxes, environmentalism, activism, national service and other nuggets of pleasurable annoyance. Since I may not get a chance to post something else before November 4th, This could be my last chance to put in my timely two cents. This is the Epistle about Change I was forecasting in past posts.

The most important issue I feel is the one that is most ignored or not realized. The generational issue. From what I learned in High School, my parents' generation, the Baby Boomers, were in the middle of the supposed change that took place in the 1960's and 1970's. Generationally speaking, for the Baby Boomers, this change pitted themselves against the older established institutions. Therefore their situation was a case of young people against old people.

This is not what I see today with the issues that are on the table. Instead of the case of young people against old people, I see a battle of old people against old people - at the EXPENSE of young people. The Baby Boomers are now the old, but still believe they are the young, which explains why my generation is not center stage on the issues that effect the country as a whole. It explains why so many young people are either wholly dependent upon the Boomers for their sustenance, or wholly destitute, being abandoned by Boomers for selfish reasons.

I believe, though the Boomers think they are still young, they are aware of their own mortality. They are no longer ignorant of the burdens that they will leave their children. Which is why they cling to the idea of change differently than younger Americans.

Eric Hoffer makes a distinction between a Mass Movement and a Practical Organization. The Mass Movement appeals to people who feel they have something to atone for, while a Practical Organization appeals to people who are interested in "self advancement". Considering this current Presidential and Federal election, young Americans should be seeking self advancement collaboratively, but instead they are overshadowed by their parents' desire for a Mass Movement. The Boomers want a Mass Movement because they are aware of the burdens they are leaving their children, and will be voting for the candidate that promises "Change" because they want to quickly mitigate any feelings of remorse or guilt for what they have done over the past forty years.

"There is a fundamental difference between the appeal of a mass movement and the appeal of a practical organization. The practical organization offers opportunities for self advancement, and its appeal is mainly to self-interest. On the other hand, a mass movement, particularly in its active, revivalist phase, appeals not to those intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but to those who crave to be rid of an unwanted self. A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation." (Hoffer, The True Believer pg. 12)

The presidential candidate who wins will win because voters were seeking self renunciation. The past two presidents were Baby Boomers themselves, and both of them demonstrated the kind of unwanted self that that generation has only now just come to sense. The excesses of the Boomers from both ends of the political spectrum, from liberal to conservative, from sex to war, have been demonstrated from the national pulpit. The Change they need is an object, an indulgence that will purify them from everything they have done over the last 40 years.

As a young American, I feel that this country will change when other young Americans realize that there are very few opportunities for self advancement. Our educations fail to empower us, and our teachers come from the very group of people who are leading the darker side of this push towards "change", a mass movement that they only pursue for forgiveness. Wait until late next week, and I am sure young Americans will still not be credited for whatever happens.

Valete