Idealism has done nothing but keep me sitting on the sidelines when I'd much rather be sitting at the table with the winners. I've shelved a lot of my idealism for pragmatism because idealism will leave you morally right and alone. We admire the underdog in this society, but we always go home with the winner. Many of you will want to vote for Dennis Kucinich, who is the most idealistic and stands his ground. But most of you will end up voting for Hillary Clinton anyway come November 2008.
We claim to admire the idealist, when we always end up siding with the pragmatist. Idealism sounds good and it caters to that romantic element within us all who loves it when the White Hats beat the Black Hats, that good triumphs over evil in the end, and loves the saccharine sweetness of a good Disney movie.
I said what I said yesterday out of frustration. No matter how well-intentioned we are in the blogosphere, we cannot through our good intentions alone re-program human nature. We can sit and metaphorically stroke our goatees meaningfully and agree what a nice world it would be if we all just got along and held hands and sang Kumbaya around the campfire. Meanwhile, the world goes on, still full of human fallibility, sin, and imperfection.
If what I've said comes across as arrogant, than so be it. Better I be arrogant than complacent. Better I be arrogant than inactive. Better I be arrogant than ignorant. Better I be arrogant than passionless.
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