I had attained a high level of competence in one profession, only to cede my status and position in order to try something new. Now I am at the bottom again, struggling upward. Humility is a new feeling. I think I like it. Pride is such a burden.
I've always liked a change in routine and detested monotonous routines. I like change more than most people. I think that's why I'm liberal. I see possibilities where other people might see insurmountable problems.
The recent election results hints at a conservative resurgence in the country. I have never seen so many signs for conservative Republican candidates. I don't know why so many people seem conservative in the U.S. I think it has to do with religion mostly, particularly the fact that minority Protestant denominations flocked to the new world in large numbers over the past four hundred years.
I also do not understand why these religious people seem to think the Republicans are on God's side. That seems naive to me. In reality, Republicans are on the side of big money all the time. They serve their rich masters with unwavering loyalty. I realize that the same can be said for some of the Democrats, but not all of the Democrats. Also, the Democrats are willing to listen to workers. They have to, in order to survive, because workers are their core constituency. Republicans do not listen to, and do not care about workers. They are completely at the bidding of the owners of capital. Does money equate to holiness nowadays? Some churches actually preach this. The more money you have, the closer you are to God. I wish Jesus would return, if only for the chance of a rebuttal!
I remember once a conservative fundamentalist contrasted the reproduction rates of conservatives with liberals. He noted that "my side" is being out-bred and will therefore become extinct. Well, that should have happened a long time ago. Besides, where did all the liberals come from in the first place? Is one to believe in spontaneous generation? Or did liberals derive from conservatives? Perhaps conservatives derived from liberals in some cases as well. This is all very confusing, and I haven't a shred of evidence either. Oh well, neither did he!
It is true that most liberals I know do not tend to have big families, but I also know many conservatives that have no children at all. I have not taken a census, but my guess would be that the rates of reproduction are approximately even. I may be mistaken, but I think most people these days, whatever their politics, have one or two kids. The reason they don't have more is that they just don't have the time and energy. Each parent tends to work a full-time job these days, and there's only so much time left for parenting.
Should liberals fear their side being outnumbered? That is a typical conservative right-wing way of thinking. Winning or losing. Winning or losing are not serious alternatives. I won't say it doesn't matter, only that the question does not rise to the philosophical or ethical level of discussion. So what if liberals dwindle in number? Then a section of the conservatives will become the new liberals. And so it will go, perhaps. There will always be political conflicts of some kind or another. Perhaps it is enough that both liberals and conservatives agree on democracy, and neither side seems to want a monarchy.
In Merry Olde Englande of the 1660's, the liberals were the religious zealots. The conservatives were the monarchists. Isn't that confusing? The liberals wanted more democracy. The conservatives, less. The liberals won, for a time, and then the conservatives regained some of their power. And so it went.
Some of the sillier issues that have arisen in politics concerned the squabbling between Catholics and Protestants in many different countries in Europe over the centuries. I am glad the two sides have learned to get along for the most part.
The liberal and conservative divide is misleading. In reality, most conservatives today would have been considered liberal half a century ago. Remember, racism was a core component of conservatism until recently. Homophobia went along for the ride. Women were supposed to stay in the kitchen and out of the workplace. Conservatives of the past were even opposed to magazines like Playboy. In Kentucky, a victorious conservative candidate (a man!) posed nude for Playgirl, or some such magazine (I forget which). One must take the "conservative" and "liberal" labels with a grain of salt. Liberals are ahead of their time. Conservatives haven't caught up yet.
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