I have always liked politics from a young age. In one way or another, I have had a real interest in the world becoming a better place. I think politics is a big part of the change; good and bad. My view of the world today verse what I used to think and believe as a politically engaged teenager and young adult has definitely changed. I wonder if my political journey is unique or others tend to follow the same path as they age? My guess is that there are two directions that people take as they age; either like me, you tend to grow more empathetic and considerate of your fellow man, or alternatively, you get jaded and become a curmudgeon.
When I was young, I very much embraced conservatism. I was a sophomore in high school when Ronald Reagan was elected. Alex Keaton was not just amusing on Family Ties, but I saw a little of me in him. It was also a way to rebel against my parents; of which I did a fair amount of for about ten years probably starting somewhere in the early eighties. I remember being very proud of my Republican Party membership card signed by Lee Atwater sometime in the early nineties.
This was appealing to me as a young man.
I went to college in hopes of being a physics major. I had really enjoyed high school physics and did pretty well on the AP test. I took the introductory courses in college and did well. In the second semester of my sophomore year, I took an intermediate molecular and atomic physics course. The professor was exactly what you would think a college physics professor would look like; wiry, balding with glasses and very soft-spoken. The class was Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8 AM. The time of day was not ideal for a college student. This professor spent the majority of the class with his back to the class and his face about three inches from the blackboard. He spoke in a monotone voice and very softly. It was hard to learn during the class. I was always pretty good at cramming and making up ground on any shortcomings from the classroom experience when getting ready for a test. The first test for this class, I spent about two hours in a study hall at the end of my dorm floor. I just could not wrap my head around the material. Within those two hours, I slowly came to the realization that I had hit the ceiling of my physics knowledge. My physics aspirations were over! And so I opted to be a Political Science major. Quite the left turn. My school was well known for ‘PoliSci’ and I really liked the topic. I am happy with the end result. Most of my college piers took their Political Science degree and became either attorney or went to DC. I did neither.
A few years later, I moved to San Francisco. Despite the history and reputation of this city, it had little to no effect on how I saw the world. I loved almost everything about San Francisco, but my conservative view of the world saw little change in the nineties. In the midst of the Clinton presidency, I saw little positives about his tenure and results. The Monica Lewinsky episode was red-meat for some good ‘Slick Willy’ bashing.
Toward the end of the nineties, is when my political and social views began to change. My view on social issues, in particular, became more relaxed and liberalized. Before the decade was over, I was married with three kids. This experience definitely began to shift the way I saw the world. The realities of being a parent changes one’s perspective. I would also like to think that this was also a result of some wisdom with age and personal growth. The hard edges of how I previously thought the world should work began to round. My thoughts on how others should conduct themselves has lost its intensity. I definitely became less judgmental. Some perspective and the willingness to show empathy that others situation may not align with my own view on how things should be, but as long as it was not hurting anyone, who cares. An ethos of live and let live, really began to set in. In the new millennium, I would characterize myself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.
I remember the 2000 election and the episode of the ‘hanging chads’ and was very happy the elections swung George W. Bushes way. I recall having the feeling that he was easily the better of the two choices. I must confess there was an aspect of taking some joy of ‘hating’ Al Gore as much as thinking Bush was the better choice. This is much the same way that I feel about the Yankees and Lakers as a Red Sox and Celtics fan; I almost take as much joy when the opponent suffers as I do when my teams succeed. When 9/11 occurred, I thought #43 was pretty terrific. Certainly his highlight as President; although I view his presidency very differently today.
In early 2000, I moved to Orange County whose reputation is a conservative island in a predominantly liberal state. Another characteristic of the OC is the number of ‘new churches’ with the most notable being the mega-church Saddleback which is but a stone’s throw from my house. This experience and people I began to run into both professionally and my day-to-day life began to make me rethink some previously held conservative values and loyalty. Over this decade I became to really struggle with the religious right and its impact on the Republican Party. I began to realize that religious dogma has no place in a society that progresses through science.
In 2008, Obama’s election created a lot of hope that we were really making progress as a nation and culture. I spent much of his presidency working on environmental issues. I became very interested in this space after seeing Al Gore’s movie Inconvenient Truth. Oddly enough, the man I was happy to see lose the 2000 election now became the source of much of my work for the next eight years. I now often wonder how different our world would be if Al Gore did not lose that election.
During the Obama presidency, I really began to see the impact the religious right was having, and I took issue with their efforts. I began to see these views began to really galvanize in opposition to Obama. There seemed to be really a tug of war between a society changing through progression and those who wanted to cling to the way things used to be. I understand that change is scary; the theme of this entire site is the good and bad of change, knowing that change is inevitable.
I think the next twenty years or so we will be tumultuous with the inevitability of liberal progress driven by science and technology but those who fear that unknown future desperately clinging to the past. Hold on tight! I hope that we will come out the other side a much better world. Human nature is such that we can be very self-destructive and hopefully those tendencies are not realized through the growing power and impact of our scientific and technological progress. It feels like the scene at the end of the Empire Strikes Back where the Millennium Falcon fires the fatal shot to the Death Star and barely flies out of the explosion. Hopefully, we share the same fate!