The Turning Point

I was walking at a pretty fast pace this morning up the hill to the University after a morning of too much introspection and paranoia. The air was still brisk and moving fast but from a different direction than the day before. It's warmer now, and I can see how the temperatures may in fact break the 30 degree mark like those nit wit forecasters predicted. I will forever hold weather people in contempt for their manifold crimes such as predicting warm weather only to be met with a wintry blast that makes you want to crawl into the nearest manhole, regardless of the stink.
But that's all just setting isn't it. The real meat of the issue is this: Somewhere along the way this morning it dawned on me that September the 11th was not just a day that brought transient solidarity and a new American view of the world as a dangerous and volatile place. It was also the day that my entire mentality became skewed. After the shock wore off and I could look at a plane flying above without seeing people falling out of an imaginary building sticking up impossibly high above the Green Mountains, I decided that change must come. Two basic modes of thought have come to characterize the post 9/11 American Mindset. The first is one that, I think, can best be described as a Lone Ranger disposition, where We are the Good Guys, tragically isolated and set against a world that can't see the flaws of their approach and are therefore Crusty and wrongheaded. The rest of the world cannot be counted on to bring the happy ending. The Sunset is only for those that come to stand by our side and do not proffer a serious opinion of their own. Like a good Tonto.
The second mindset is one that I have become increasingly associated with in terms of politics and personal goals. It is that of a Progressive Internationalist. It is not reasonable to believe that because we have the strongest democracy that we also have all the answers as to how a democracy should be formed or sustained. The time has come for a new revolution in ideas and goals that include not less but more faith in International Governance. Not less but more effort in finding common ground. Not less but more partcipation in the World Community. That means listening and not merely pretending to listen for the purposes of advancing one's own point of view and prerogative.