Logically... ironically

Mood: Electrified
Listening to: thunder and rain

When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful,
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees, well they’d be singing so happily,
Joyfully, playfully watching me.
But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible,
Logical, responsible, practical.
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable,
Clinical, intellectual, cynical.

There are times when all the world’s asleep,
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man.
Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who I am.

Now watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical,
Liberal, fanatical, criminal.
Won’t you sign up your name, we’d like to feel you’re
Acceptable, respecable, presentable, a vegtable!

At night, when all the world’s asleep,
The questions run so deep
For such a simple man.
Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who I am.

I heard this song on the radio the other day. I used to love this song when I was a kid. I mean kids in third grade love the idea that school is bad for them... especially boys who suffer the most at the hands of inept educators. I used to love Pink Floyd's "The Wall" also... "hey teacher, leave those kids alone!" It's a hilarious reality check though for me to look back the words of this song and see how much the social pendulum has swung in 20 years. Here's Supertramp railing against the "conservative" mainstream America of the 60s and 70s... "Now watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical, Liberal, fanatical, criminal." Suddenly, the political agle of the lyrics hit home with the word, Liberal (which I suppose was a dirty word at some point.) All these years I've focused on all the other words (maybe a third grader has no concept of Liberals and Conservatives?) The idea that there is a society out there that seeks to crush fresh ideas, imaginative solutions, or optimism has stayed in my mind since those early years of sneaking FM radio after bedtime.

Liberal stuck out like a sore thumb the other day when I heard the song on the radio though. Today, if you have any conservative ideas, you have to watch your back. The Liberals are more likely to attack you and stomp out your opinions that the much maligned Conservatives. Not that Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson isn't likely to spit venom at you if you whisper a more liberal opinion within earshot but, on a day to day basis, I'm more worried about the labels I'd be given by Lexington's holier-than-thou, PC crowd for a less than 110% Liberal point of view. We could rewrite the lyrics a little...

"Now watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a racist,
Sexist, Homophobe, Ignorant.
Won’t you sign up your name, we’d like to feel you’re
agreeable, politically correct, progressive, a vegtable!"

I don't know, maybe being a free thinking independent means that EVERYONE is going to ruffle your feathers a bit. I do get the feeling that people assume that being behind a Liberal cause equates enlightenment, or intellectualism, or open-mindedness. It really doesn't. It is easy to spot closed minded conservatives. They openly refuse to consider ideas for various reasons. A closed minded Liberal is tougher... they subtly refuse to consider an idea by attacking the person holding it with words like racist, sexist, homophobic, ignorant, and ironically, colsed-minded. The emotional charge of the attack eclipses the ideas. They weild the terms with the same zeal as an officer of the Spanish Inquisition would the words: heretic, blasphemy, witch. Both actions seek to smother the idea with emotional responses.

So we all end up with our spirit crushed either way. It doesn't matter whether the prevailing American culture is Liberal or Conservative... Americans always go too far... well, people always go too far. They do it everywhere. I just wish more people would resist the tendency to swing the pendulum and let it come to rest in the middle. But of course nothing would ever get done that way...