It Will Work Out In The End

Megan McArdle has a great piece on political perspective...

In 2004, the day after George Bush was re-elected, New York was a sullen place. At lunch, I sat next to one of my favorite New York liberals in brooding silence for a while, and then her sadness and rage suddenly erupted.

"I just didn't realize," she said, "that America hated me."

What do you say to that? America didn't hate her; America didn't know her. America mostly wasn't thinking about her. Yes, I've no doubt that the more tribal political partisans were cackling at the thought of grieving New York liberals (and in 2006, their liberal counterparts were prowling the internet for pleasurable nuggets of schadenfreude--no, don't deny it, I physically watched them do it.) But most people hadn't been thinking about my companion when they voted. They'd been thinking about themselves. They'd been trying to do, in their own hamfisted and probably ignorant way, the best thing for themselves and their country.

...Saying that you "cannot grasp" what motivates others is supposed to indicate their utter moral turpitude, I suppose. And in the case of say, people who rape children, yes, it's true: I cannot grasp it. Can't imagine. Don't want to.

But when you're using it as a dodge to avoid grappling with the opinion of well over half your fellow countrymen, this won't do. Being unable to imagine what the majority of Americans might be thinking doesn't indicate a problem with them. It suggests you kind of need to get out more. Ask around. If there's one thing any American is always happy to share, it's his opinion.

But for the shut-ins, and those who are too busy with their needlepoint, I have a useful little shortcut that you can use to try and understand why this vast, pulsating blob of undifferentiated evildoers might be opposing the Democrats' health care agenda: they think it's a bad idea.

That's not so hard to imagine, is it? You have had ideas, and you have opposed the bad ideas of others. You have experience in the domain, so to speak. Think of it as sort of a visualization device.

The next time you are trying to imagine why the people who disagree with you are actively promoting the destruction of all that is good in the universe, grab a soothing cup of mint tea, put your feet up on a comfy pillow, and then close your eyes and imagine what those people would look like campaigning against something that is a very bad idea. 99 times out of a hundred, you'll find that they look . . . well, exactly like they look when they're campaigning against your idea. And suddenly the whole thing is no longer so inexplicable, isn't it?

I mean, we all know that that's ridiculous, because you have never in your life been wrong about any major question, or had a bad idea of your own, which is why you are so fabulously wealthy and married to the first person you ever dated, who is even now smiling at you in blissful perfection from the arms of your four flawless children. But they don't know that, you see. As I think I've mentioned, they haven't met you. They won't know anything about you until you finally accept that Nobel Peace Prize. So you'll have to content yourself with understanding that while you, personally, may never be in error, other well meaning people sometimes are. And then still other well-meaning people have to get up off the sofa and point this out, lest they lead the entire nation astray.

It's the sort of thing we should all read, from time to time. Look, politics are important, but who controls the government isn't that important, because in the long run, to paraphrase John Maynard Keynes, we're all dead anyway. Most Americans, liberal or conservative, probably get this.

However, this is easier for people on the right than on the left -- the right has less of a vested interest in who controls government, since their general goal is to have the government stay out of the way, while the left's general goal is to have the government do more stuff. Indeed, I remember a day after the 2006 midterm election, when a left-leaning colleague stopped by my office to, as he put it, "check on my well-being." I was in pretty good spirits -- I'd already moved my focus on to the Eagles upcoming tilt with the Redskins. He seemed surprised that I could be so (for lack of a better term) not unhappy.

The point then, and now, is that there's bigger things in life. Yes, the foolish decisions being made in D.C. will likely have a major impact on my life (and that of my child), but I can't fix it right now, and allowing it to keep me down won't change a damn thing. Besides, if Ronald Reagan taught one enduring lesson to Americans, it's to have faith in this country's populace. We may make mistakes, but we'll eventually get it right. You have to fight, but keep your optimism, even when beaten. It's not personal -- it's politics.

Hopefully, liberals find that perspective in considering Martha Coakley's loss. If not, I'm hoping they'll still need to try to find it in November 2010.