From outside the box

There are plenty of liberals around but not many true progressive liberals. I'm not sure if there is an accepted definition of what a "progressive" is, but here's what I think it is....A progressive is a person who takes an idea that works, or may work, and continue's to explore and build on it. They are the ones that take the heat from conservative, traditionalist, and closed minded people. They are out front fighting for the acceptance of these ideas into mainstream thinking. Liberals may fight to develope or hold onto the these ideas, however it is the progressives who are discovering or creating them. Conservatives are often resistant to new ideas because their belief is that if it ain't broke, it don't need fixin. It's OK to be against change, if there is no need for change. However, It seems like when changes are needed, it is always the conservatives who fight those changes.

Now a true progressive is also somebody who is willing to recognize and admit when a liberal cause has gone askew, and is willing to fix it. Liberal causes, as with all causes, will need tweaking and adjusting from time to time. A few examples....the welfare system, unions, preferential hiring practices, and taxes. These are all good things, but when they get out of control, the conservatives start screaming that they never did work, they are the root of all of our problems, etc. And I also have to say that often it is the conservatives who are responsible for fixing these things when they need fixed.

Over the years I have tried to "progress" my thinking in areas like religion, diet, raising kids, work ethics, music, and how we think. It seems that whenever I make a new discovery, or realize a different way of approaching something, there are always those closed minded individuals who are quick to point out the flaws in my thinking. Often they are right. More often they are wrong. When an idea only works for a few, or that idea no longer serves our greater good, it is time to explore new concepts about that idea. New ideas are often met with sarcasm, resistance, and even anger, especially if it is an idea that threatens tradition or challenges our comfort zone.

In order to move forward, we have to be able to admit that where we are at is not working. If we fail to acknowledge a broken system, we are doomed to fail. We are failing in a lot of areas. The epidemic of cancer is telling us that our diet and the way we overmedicate ourselves is not working. Our inability to see the universal connection of all things, as well as our willingness to kill in the name of God has shown us that our religions are not working. Our epidemic of depression in this country is showing us that how we think is not working. Our 10 trillion dollar national debt is showing us that business as usual is not working. Our inability to safely dispose of nuclear waste shows us that nuclear energy is not an answer, it does not work, not in the big picture. The fact that nuclear war would be devastating to the whole world tells us that nuclear weapons will not work. Global warming is telling us that how we have been treating our environment is not working. An over medicated population of senior citizens as well as a pharmaceutical industry that has been hijacked by the almighty dollar shows us that our approach to prescription drugs is not working. The invasion by Mexico shows us that our boarders are not working. So many things in this country, and the whole world as well, are not working and we won't even admit it.

So I say to you conservatives who are so quick to stomp on any new ideas presented by progressive thinkers, stop defending the status quo, don't be afraid to admit the obvious problems just because the solutions may challenge your traditions and comfort zones, and start talking about solutions that would work for you. But in order to do that you have to think beyond silly ideas like practicing sexual abstinence while ignoring the use of education about safe sex, teaching that man walked with the dinosaurs while ignoring scientific facts about evolution, talking about lowering taxes while ignoring that lower taxes are replaced with outrageous borrowing practices, and talking about our freedoms while ignoring (and contributing to) the suppression of homosexuals, folks in need of assisted suicide, women's rights, and basically anybody doing anything that you disagree with.

I would not be so vain as to say that liberals have the answers to all of these problems. Many liberal solutions fail. But to use a phrase that conservatives are so quick to throw out when liberals start complaining about the war in Iraq....Instead of being against these things, why don't you come up with some solutions as to how to fix them? The solutions are within all of us. Often it is within the yin and yang, a balance of conservative and liberal ideas, that have the best answers. But like I said, it starts with admitting there is a problem. We all have an inner progressive. Maybe it's time to let him out.