Tuesday, June 27, 2006
The heroes are us
Jim Rigby at The Puffington Host
[L]iberal values cannot be saved by heroes. Liberal values can only be saved by ordinary citizens living up to their principles.
In the biblical story of the Exodus, Moses dies just before Israel can enter the Promised Land. The story is told as a way of making a point. Leaders can only take you so far. At some point it's up to the people to govern themselves. Eugene B. Debs used to tell his listeners, "I would not lead you into the promised land even if I could, for, if anybody leads you in, someone else can lead you out."
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The flipside of not having heroes is not having demons either. Liberals must stop fixating on George Bush. Corporations took over America using politicians as sock puppets. It certainly makes a difference who sits in office, but we have not solved our problems if we impeach one of the socks. We must change the system.
And the system is us: not the constructive and thoughtful readers of this blog, but our friends, relatives, co-workers, and neighbors-- even the non-constructive and unthoughtful people who come to troll this blog. They must come to see again that this is America, not a plantation, that they are God's highest creation, not serfs to be marched around, used, and ultimately discarded.
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