Make Yourself Great Again

We are the generation whose concept of progress revolves primarily around partisan politics. We are the generation that has in many ways lost its ability to think about the topic of how to create a freer world in a manner that’s more substantial than figuring out how to get our favorite politician elected into office.

We are the generation that struggles to see both the problems and the possibilities for progress because our worldview is dominated by an obsession over what the people on the other political team are up to. We are the generation that refuses to acknowledge injustice because of a fear of how liberals will politicize the incident. We are the generation that refuses to acknowledge the beauty of self-empowerment because of a fear of how conservatives will abuse the message.

We are the generation that has lost sight of truth because we’re too busy defending ideologies to have time for exploring new ideas, questioning our assumptions, and ridding ourselves of self-defeating beliefs. We are the generation that will do everything it can to avoid admitting someone was right if he or she represents the wrong party. We are the generation that will go out of its way to gloss over the wrongdoings of others if he or she is part of our own in-group.

Who needs truth when you have talking points? What need is there for the individual to challenge himself or herself to make the world a freer place on a day-to-day basis when all you have to do is vote on election day?

We have it all figured out. Whatever our problems are, it’s mostly because the “wrong person” is in office. We’ll get it right this time around. We’ll pay extra close attention to the debates this time around. We’ll ask them tougher questions this time around. We’ll encourage even more people to vote this time around. This time things will be different.

There’s always a savior. There’s always a superman, or an angel from on high, or a fairy godmother who comes along and sets things properly a course. You’ll see. I’ll see. We’ll all see.

Or will we?

Perhaps we’ll see another reality: perhaps we’ll see that we are our own supermen, our own angels, and our own fairy godmothers. Perhaps we’ll look within and make *ourselves* great again.

Originally published at tkcoleman.com on November 1, 2015.