Making things happen

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Monday February 2, 2004 Volume VI Number 5

hings are heating up on political platforms across the nation.

Ideology has always driven the debates.  One of the basics in dissecting the merit of one’s opinion is to peel back the layers of an argument and discern the fundamental assumptions of one’s point of view.  What are the presuppositions?  What is the world view?  If you grasp these underlying forces, you can understand some of the conclusions drawn, and you have a basis for entering into the debate.

It is popular these days to divide culture into two distinct categories: liberal and conservative.  Conservatives want to preserve an age-old set of values that protect a way of life.  Liberals would rather challenge the assumptions that keep the disadvantaged under the control the existing order, and introduce change for the benefit of all.  We live in an era where the whole world, it seems, is lining up on either side of that great divide, and both relish the process of creating an outrageous caricature of the opposition.

Conservatives have made some spectacular gains in the past couple of decades.  They are more sophisticated.  More street-wise.  They possess more media savvy than in the early days.  They are bolder.  More articulate.  In my formative years, in those college days and early in my career, liberals dominated the landscape while conservatives kept a low profile.  But the pendulum swings, and conservatives made a considerable impact on popular culture writing books, building big powerful audiences, posting high numbers in the ratings wars, winning political victories, securing high office. 

I’d have to say that my world slants toward the conservative side of the ledger.  Perhaps it is inevitable.  My academic background, my career, my business, my family, my spiritual center, my age, my geography, all point in the direction of conservatism.  There are certain timeless values that are worth preserving and should be defended and passed from generation to generation.

For awhile, it seemed that conservatives had advanced to prominence.  Ronald Reagan brought back the respectability of patriotism, and ever since, conservatives have gained ground in the culture wars.

But if you let politicians and the talking heads of the media define the philosophical terms of the debate, you’ll fall short.  Way short.

Liberals are currently on the hunt for heroes who can lead the charge and provide a voice to answer the conservatives on the large scale platform of public discourse.

One of these rabble rousers is Michael Moore.  He seems like such a regular guy: a true and fearless proletariat taking on the sinister bourgeoisie.  Now he has an Oscar to validate his point of view.  With a new popularity, and considerable resources, he’s entered into the political arena to lend a helping hand to aspiring candidates for the office of President.

In his film, Bowling for Columbine, he taps into the national angst over the tragedy in Littleton, Colorado that riveted the world’s attention back on April 20, 1999.  There is a systemic culture of violence, according to Moore, fueled by mindless conservatives who populate groups like the National Rifle Association which contributes to the senseless and tragic episodes of brutality, like the one that erupted in a sleepy suburban high school just outside Denver.  It’s a reflection, he continues, of the history of violence in this country, illustrated in a cartoon depiction of America which features the violent racial confrontations that marked the formation and emergence of the most powerful nation on earth. 

It wasn’t the perpetrators of the crime who were responsible.  They are but a reflection of a society that cultivates such villains.

Listen to Michael Moore, and you’ll conclude that the responsibility for out-of-control violence in America rests squarely with the President’s conservative friends and colleagues.  He glibly connects the dots between Columbine and Baghdad with simplistic “if this then that” logic. 

And it won him an Oscar.

In his acceptance speech, that moment in the glittering sunshine of Hollywood’s most sought after prize, before an enormous viewing audience, Moore seized the moment to embarrass and ridicule the President.  He thanked the academy for turning its gaze from the normal fare to a “serious” documentary – from fiction to non-fiction.

“We live in a fictitious world,” he said.  “We live with the result of a fictitious election.  We have a fictitious President.  We sent our children into harms way on the merits of a fictitious argument.”  By this time, the booing started.   Simultaneous to the cheers.  And the groans.  The house was split.  As was the nation. 

Moore went on.  “Mr. President,” (Moore figured he was watching, I guess) “shame on you!”  And then he repeated the charge, wagging his pointer finger, “Shame on you Mr. President!”

And then he bowed, thanking the academy, and returned to his seat.

Those words, which would otherwise be forgotten, are coming to life again on the DVD version of his movie, and will return again to the public domain as the political season gathers momentum into the summer.  Michael Moore, scraggly beard and pot-belly, baseball cap and tennis shoes, will grace the stage with aw-shucks Michigan regular guy banter in support of his favorite presidential candidate, expecting to bring in voters.

It will trivialize the debate. 

As will his fictitious “documentary.”

* * * * * * *

I’ve never been comfortable with the convenient labeling thing.  There’s a lot of that going around.  Conservative/liberal would be one of those over-simplifications that brands people, puts them in easy categories, and prevents us from dealing with more complicated issues.

We are on the threshold of another presidential election year.  The debate will heat up.  The personal attacks will increase.  We have a duty to consider the issues.  But we need to sort them through with care and deliberation.

We want it distilled to a sound byte, a slogan, a quick come-back.  We want it witty and charming.

We’ve got to resist the temptation to go with impressions.  We need to look for substance.

Are you a conservative or a liberal? 

You are probably a little bit of both.  You are progressive in some things, protective in others.  You are open to new ideas, but you’ve got a few non-negotiables, too.  In some ways, you are free to explore.  In others, you live with and accept restrictions.  You are not legalistic, but in general, you play by the rules.  You are a complex collection of questions and answers, and you view life as a dynamic journey, subject to change.  But there are certain things you care about, and you want them passed on from this generation to the next.  You are willing to fight to preserve them.

You are a creature of habit, but you don’t want to be too predictable.  You admit you could be wrong, but you think you are right.  In relation to some people, you are a radical.  In comparison to others, you are a stick-in-the-mud.  You know many things are relative.  Other things are fixed.  Sometimes you have influence.  Sometimes you are influenced.

Part of you relates to Michael Moore’s golly-gee passive-aggressive analysis of the way things are.  Part of you takes offence at the monumental presumption and pompous judgment.

Conservative or liberal?

It’s up for grabs.

* * * * * * *

Our grandson finished his first year this week.  I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced anything that so clears up life’s ambiguities.  Grandparenthood.

I’m sure it looked a little odd out there at the community park: seven full grown adults accompanied a single one-year-old to the playground, watching his every move.  There were four cameras, not including two camcorders rolling, recording the action.  He’s developed a lightening fast crawl, he climbs steps, he’s fearless at the top of the slide - taking the plunge without a moment’s hesitation, and he giggles when he hits the bottom.  His mom and dad, two uncles and an aunt, a grandma and grandpa all mesmerized by the little boy who stood to his feet, checked to see who was watching, and with the proper coaxing, took his first wobbly steps.

It’s hard to explain the joy he brings.  I find myself laughing again.  Easily.  Long.  It’s as though this little boy has ushered in the meaning and purpose of the next couple of decades.  Maybe it’s too much to put on a little boy and his parents.  But the fogginess of middle age gloom lifts when he’s around.  Even when he’s a little fussy, his curious reaching and grabbing and pulling, even his wandering beyond the boundaries, all of it, part of the package of promise.  There’s something to do now.  Something to teach.  A little person who needs to know he’s unique in all the cosmos, that the world can be a friendly place, that there’s a God who created him for a special purpose.  He’ll have questions.  He’ll wonder out loud.  He’ll wander too far.  He’ll get bruised.  He’ll fall down.  He’ll score a goal.  He’ll cross the finish line.

And I’ll be there.

That’s my new role.

* * * * * * *

It’s Monday morning.  You are a leader.

The voices are loud and shrill and ever present.  Maybe it’s time to turn off the talking heads and turn on the classical music.  Turn down the volume and concentrate on the task at hand.  Let the music in the background remind you that there is harmony and melody and timeliness in life that overshadows the chaos and the clamoring. 

Everywhere you turn, voices will call for your loyalties.  They will label you.  And invite you to paste a label on everyone else.

It’s so convenient.  And so misleading. 

Before you write off the rest of the world as fictitious, like Michael Moore, welcome some of the complexities.  Resist the temptation to grab a handy label and then move on.   Think a little about underlying causes, some of the obscure dynamics, some of the beneath the surface stuff that’s driving some of the attitudes.  Be a leader.  Do some in depth thinking – before you make your judgments.

And remember that the new generations are coming on.

Let’s pass on the things that really matter.

Posted in Valley Center, California

© Copyright Kenneth E. Kemp 2004

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