Something is sweeping across the country that is absolutely palpable. It could be a paradigm shift as significant as the one that occurred in the late 18th century when a new nation was born in the wilderness of North America and modern science was born through discovery of the essential elements that make up all of life. It feels to me as if we are entering a new phase in the American Experiment when the problems that vex us are again demanding we look outside conventional boundaries.
And that brings me to “far right wing” thought. Many who call themselves conservatives today want to go back to the days of our founders, a time when things were known, certain, and immutable. The only problem with that: all those descriptions are the opposite of our founders’ goals. They wanted change! They wanted nothing of the past. They wanted nothing of religious constriction, governmental tyranny, or suffocating conventional wisdom in the exploration of science, theology, art and politics. They were focused like today’s laser beam on the future. They were enthralled with the potential that existed in the human mind.
The world was ripe for the embracing of radical change in the era of Jefferson, Adams and Franklin. And radical it was. For the leaders so frequently cited by today’s right wing conservatives, tomorrow was always likely to be a better day for the radical change it would bring in previously “proper and accepted” thought.
The Internet has already changed our political process by making it possible for a veritable unknown community organizer from Illinois to demonstrate to a majority of the electorate that he can be trusted with their government. Indeed, the Internet has changed our entire world through a diffusion of knowledge that has touched and stimulated people on every square foot of this planet.
Who knows what secrets will be revealed through continued DNA research, or stem cell research? What products and technologies will be made possible by the exploitation of nanotechnology, products and technologies that surely will change our lives and our institutions? Who knows if we will be able to “feed” excess CO2 in our environment to algae and turn the rapidly growing algae into a petroleum product that will drive vehicles and grease wheels of machinery?
And we haven’t even had a chance to see the atom smashing capabilities of the super collider soon to be tested in Europe. What a marvelous world awaits our children!
There have always been people uncomfortable with change. King George was uncomfortable when the colonists decided they didn’t want to be told anymore where to send their tax money. There were many in colonial America who were uncomfortable with the prospect of a war with England and would have been more comfortable with seeking an accommodation with the Crown, but it was not to be. Not at all.
The founding fathers would most likely dismiss the babbling unenlightened on the far right today as incapable of rational inquiry of their own. [These people actually believe President Obama wants to take up their guns and ammunition!] Thankfully, the voters have seen fit to ignore them thus far. The voters, God bless ‘em, bought their Obama tickets, jumped on his train, and filled with hope and trust they set out for a destination unknown, confident they will arrive at a far better world when the whistle blows at the next stop.
The founders believed the world could change, and be improved if we who have inherited their ingenious creation could find the mettle to be worthy stewards of the radical government they bequeathed to us.
The new paradigm shift will require more than a single term of one President, or for that matter, a full eight years. It is likely to require the better part of a full generation. But isn’t it reassuring to know we have a President who understands and indeed, embraces the changes in the offing.
Can YOU feel the change?
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