Page 83 - Liberating Liberals V2

Liberating Liberals
founding geniuses. Our brain is so flexible that we can almost attain this compassionate detachment. We are freethinkers, not bound by the absolutes of others! As the formerly freethinking Cat Stevens counseled: “You’ve got so much to say, say what you mean, mean what you think and think anything! Why not?”65
Conservatives scream why not: “Civilization will dissolve into chaos and life become `nasty, brutish and short,’” as Hobbs’ famous phrase goes. Liberals can reply: “We are not abandoning conservative meanings. We’re merely adding the infinity of possibilities to the already tried and maybe true.”
The American dreamscape
It’s fruitful to apply the analytical angle of meaninglessness to the American Dream. We liberals slouch into American Dream fundamentalism because it’s considered such a positive goal. It involves having peace and plenty in America, and being upwardly mobile economically. This includes a nice house, two cars, an avalanche of appliances and entertainment centers — and good credit allowing plenty of impulse purchases and big Christmases. Though for many it now also means multiple McMansions and a beach house; two giant SUVs; five flat-liquid-crystal HDTVs; giant, medium and tiny sound systems; Craftsman kitchens; etc.
By looking at the American Dream from an
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