When We Fail to Inspire Hope, We Fail the Future

By
Glenn W. Smith
– December 14, 2009Posted in: Culture, Politics
utopia2 200x300 When We Fail to Inspire Hope, We Fail the Future

Thomas More's Utopia

Those of us who pursue a progressive vision of America’s future are disappointed so far in Barack Obama. We should keep in mind, however, that neither America nor any other nation has achieved anything near our hopes for political equality and economic justice. The changes we are fighting for, changes some naively felt simply came with Obama’s victory, would be unique in human history. In my own case, the hoped for changes are, after all, utopian, a word that comes from the Greek for “no place.”

I don’t say this to diminish expectations, though. I say it to encourage focus on the real wellsprings of hope: ourselves. We face a crisis of morale. The 2010 elections will tell us more about ourselves than about Obama. Progressives have to remember that the president is not the symbolic hero in a movie we just sit and watch. We’re in the movie. It’s about us, not him.

America has never had a progressive president or a progressive government. We have achieved progressive reforms, of course, all of them due to the work of champions of freedom and equality who worked outside of government. Abolition, universal suffrage, labor reforms, civil rights – all of these were the achievements of a people, not a person.

On health care, Obama made a terrible mistake when he aimed at reform that would somehow not alienate the health insurance industry, an industry with unparalleled power over our lives. The insurance industry is the very source of the crisis. It is a business that earns all of its profits from the denial of coverage and benefits. Any solution that protects those profits will fail.

While we struggle to overcome that fundamental error, we run the risk of demoralizing Americans. In the long run, we need one another more than we need Obama. I might even say that inspiration should be our first and most important strategy. Our demoralization is certainly a key strategy of our opponents, as it has been with all authoritarians. A great essay on the renewal of hope in the face demoralizing tyranny is Vaclav Havel’s, “The Power of the Powerless.”

I have many acquaintances who can no longer even read news about the health care reform because they find it depressing. This demands recognition and action. These anxious folk are not weak or apathetic. Their hopes need renewing. We rely on our individual resources, but also upon one another for inspiration. If we don’t take steps to relieve the anxiety and restore hope, we will set the movement back a decade. The 2010 elections will be lost, but that may turn out to be the least of our problems.

I have no explanation for my own continued optimism. I think I’m just lucky. Many nights I go to bed discouraged. Most mornings I wake up with renewed hope and energy. I promise, it has more to do with some accident of metabolism than it does any act of will. Markos Moulitsas asked me this question many years ago. How can I stay in the fight after so many years, he asked, noting that I live in Texas. This was the only answer I could come up with.

However, after acknowledging the fact of hope, I can read back into it some beliefs and some consequences.

Hope requires a tougher realism than either cynicism or surrender. Without an eyes-wide-open view of what is, the necessary steps for change are impossible to determine. Also, hope can easily devolve into a sentimental “everything’s gonna be alright” passivity or naivety. Popular melodrama sells a lot of this.

As the poet Charles Olson said, “what does not change/is the will to change.” One thing we can be sure about: life and the universe are going to change. The only question is what will the change look like. As the song says, the future’s not ours to see. But it is ours to make. One individual can seem a puny thing next to a multinational corporation, a government or a galaxy. But then, the individual consciousness is one of creation’s grandest achievements. We shouldn’t sell it short.

There are unlucky metabolisms, too. I can’t assume everyone wakes up as optimistic as I do. I have a responsibility to reinforce the hopes of those who may have suffered more setbacks or lived through more misery than I have.

Finally, as regards the movement’s public face, especially its online presence, we have to remember we are not just talking to ourselves. Relentless struggle in the face of disappointment and betrayal has to be always accompanied by confidence, courage, and steadfast belief in the possibility of success.

When we fail to inspire hope, we fail the future, which, one way are the other, we are bound to live into.

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About Glenn W. Smith

Glenn W. Smith has spent the past 30 years in journalism and politics, where he’s made a name for himself as a writer, campaign manager, activist, think tank analyst and, as Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas says, a “legendary political consultant and all-around good guy.” “There’s no one like him,” says author George Lakoff. CNN commentator Paul Begala says, “He has unmatched experience, a graceful pen (or pixel nowadays) and deep insight into the best and worst of us.” Novelist Sarah Bird speaks of his “lucid and lyrical” prose. And, she says, he’s fun. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington says Glenn writes with “grace and abundant humor” and “uses his colorful experiences in Texas to enlighten us all.”

Smith led Ann Richards’ successful 1990 campaign for Governor of Texas. He worked for former Texas Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Earlier, Smith was a political reporter for the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post. He’s coordinated national campaigns for groups such as MoveOn.org. In 2004, he authored the highly acclaimed book, The Politics of Deceit: Saving Freedom and Democracy from Extinction. He also wrote Unfit Commander, a book that detailed George W. Bush’s mysterious disappearance from military service.

In 2004, Smith was featured in the film, Bush’s Brain, a documentary about Karl Rove. Smith provided commentary on Rove’s role as then-President Bush’s senior advisor. He has made numerous media appearances with Chris Mathews on Hardball, Joe Scarborough, Brit Hume, and many others. He writes a regularly for top national web sites, including FireDogLake and Huffington Post.

As a senior fellow at George Lakoff’s prestigious Rockridge Institute in Berkeley he studied, wrote and taught on the power of metaphor and narrative in political communications. He also lectured on religion and politics at the Starr King School for Ministry in Berkeley. As a sponsor and organizer, he has pulled together numerous national events with progressive religious leaders. He also organized a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King at Riverside Church in New York City as well as “Freedom and Faith” bus tours, which was a nationwide campaign for social justice and progressive values.

Smith’s play, Double Play, which explored American Western myths and legends, was held over to sold-out audiences. He’s even written and performed songs in the Americana tradition, such as his best-known song, “Helping Marty Robbins,” a tribute to his hometown, Houston.

Most recently, Smith is the creator of DogCanyon, a political and cultural web site covering state, national and global issues from a Texas perspective. DogCanyon is an exhilarating and unique site that gets the connections between politics and culture and explores both the personal side of politics and the ups, down, craziness and beauty of “life its ownself,” as humorist Dan Jenkins would say. DogCanyon offers heartfelt personal essays, hard-hitting political analysis, and, most importantly, laughs.

As Paul Begala said, Smith writes in “the finest, firmest, fearless tradition of Texas essayists like Molly Ivins.”