Reply #9: So, why are we here? And what do you believe?

[TayTay]

A progressive or liberal is someone who lights a candle against a vast darkness. The darkness doesn't go away simply because the candle was lit. Change, it has often been observed, is the one inevitable thing in life and the one thing that is unbelievably hard to achieve. We live, breathe and hope in the heart of that contradiction.

Politics is the art of the possible. It is an elegant process only when it is written up in simplistic history books that look back on what happened and tend to ignore the complications and compromises. A lot of life involves making compromises and learning to live with the consequences. We are human and live within the confines of our human limitations.

The exercise of power is not a pretty thing. It never has been. It involves balancing competing and contradictory ideas and making choices. The act of making a choice, by definition, means that other options were not taken. The founding of America involved compromises, fatal, painful compromises that left critical issues unanswered for generations. The American Civil War was a consequence of decisions made decades before and issues that festered in the country. "All men are created equal" was not a true statement in 1776 and it is not a true statement now. It is a goal; one that we have zigzagged toward in the course of our history, sometimes getting closer, sometimes moving away.

Why are you here? I have been known to annoy people with that question in this group from time to time. It is not navel-gazing; it is a critical question that demands reflection to answer. Most Americans don't pay that much attention to politics. They like the cliff notes version of what is going on. That version presents a complete narrative with a beginning, a middle and an end and presents simplistic versions of people and events that clearly state what is good and what is evil. Life is not like that though, it is mixed and gray more often than not.

Politics is not fair. It will never be fair. The exercise of power is an inherently unfair act. Anyone who has been around politics long enough knows this. The very act of making choices is unfair to some interests. Just noting that something is unfair though isn't meaningful. Why stick around, why show up and try again in the face of that? What is the point of lighting a candle against a vast darkness that will always be there?

You could quit you know. There are many, many people who hate politics, hate the crudeness of it and the compromises and the sordid details of how things are done. The option of not paying attention, of not actively seeking out knowledge is there for all of us. We could just stop paying attention, resign from the groups that seek change or reform and hide away from all this with the cynical view that nothing ever changes anyway and the process is inherently corrupt and unyielding. Why are you here? Is this your view?

Why would a John Kerry still be in the game, so to speak. He could retire, join a lot of cushy boards, become an gray eminence of Dem politics and for the country. He wouldn't have to face hostility. The press would no longer be so snarky toward him because he would be removed from power and from the struggles of politics on a day to day basis. The Senator has access to vast wealth and could live a really nice, comfortable life, maybe write, deliver lectures, teach, etc. All of these are worthy things. He can have this life for the asking. Not many people are lucky enough to have that choice. So, given that, why is still there, still putting himself out for public commentary, still taking chances and getting disappointments and so forth?

Why struggle so hard to keep that candle lit? What is in it for him? Given that he really and truly doesn't need anything else to secure his place in history, why do this? Is one little candle worth it?