Turn And Face The Strange

Credit: By Talmoryair [CC BY-SA 3.0
 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
from Wikimedia Commons

The theory of evolution is not the best framework for explaining the situation America is in today. But I'm not going to let that stop me from trying.

Species die out because they cannot cope with new climates or cannot compete with a more aggressive species. Some people also fail to cope with change because of the choices they make. Most successful people choose to respond to change by adjusting their strategies and goals. Like learning new skills or pursuing new careers.

After World War II my parent’s generation could get a good job with little education and stay in that job their whole lives.  There was little pressure to change.  But by the time I got out of high school in 1975 that world was already fading away.  We were using electric typewriters in my college classes in 1988.  Just 7 years later the personal computer revolution had put PCs in nearly every office and home. The internet was the newest rage. I didn't know how to use a computer in 1988 but I had learned by 1992.  In 2007 along came the iPhone and today everyone walks around with these little hand-held computers.

The world changes a little bit every day. The change is gradual which makes it hard to notice. 

But once in a while that change becomes apparent -- like if your job gets outsourced to Mexico -- or your neighborhood has dozens of vacant homes due to foreclosures or maybe a black guy becomes president. After Obama was first elected president I was surprised at the number of people who were frightened of our changing world. A lot of people woke up in November 2008 and didn’t like that change. Fear is quite a motivator.

I think this is where conservative philosophy fails it’s followers. Conservatism opposes change. It would like to stop change or in some cases, reverse change. Trump's slogan is Make America Great Again. He looks back to the way things were in the past.

However, change occurs whether you like it or not --whether you’re ready for it or not. No one can ever stop the world from changing.  It has always changed and it always will.

Our world is not going back to the 1950s. The United States will never again employ tens of thousands of workers making Studebakers or in steel mills or in coal mines. We’re not going to push our gay and lesbian citizens back into the closet. We’re not going to re-segregate restaurants and schools or deny women the right to vote.  People who oppose change and fail to acknowledge it will always be angry and will never understand why.  So, back to my theory of American political and social evolution. Those who won’t adapt will be left behind to perish.

Conservatism is a dead philosophy. It's a complete fantasy.  A liberal world is already here and liberal policies and politics brought by a new generation are poised to take over the United States. Trump supporters are in for a world of hurt over the next 30 years or more. They are not going to like how it goes down.  People that adapt to the new world will survive. Those that let the world change around them will die out. So, conservatives might as well go shout at the tide, because change is unstoppable.