In an editorial in The New York Times that shortly followed the re-election victory of George W. Bush, the writer Garry Wills expressed concern for the erosion of enlightenment values that tolerate religious pluralism. Yet the recent setbacks for the progressive movement may be, in part, due to an element of this same enlightenment heritage that upholds reason by disparaging emotion and dismissing the mystical. Such a disposition can not only be limiting but often veers toward the misanthropic that, in turn, incites forces of reaction.
As neuroscientists have demonstrated, the ability to reason is, in fact, inextricably tied to emotion. We can be quite proud of our reason, but since the ability to see beyond our personal perspective is limited, too often all we show is the capacity to rationalize our pride and self-interest. Though there’s no denying our selfish nature, neither can we deny our collective nature. Clarity of reason may be better served by casting attention toward emotions of our
collective nature.
As the progressive movement searches for a renewing vision, it would be well served by turning some attention toward the poetic visionaries. When I write “visionary,” I mean one who confronts human nature and, imaginatively and ecstatically, envisions a greater society. Like a shaman of a hunting and gathering society, the poet Walt Whitman did just that for the modern democratic society.
At the beginning of his tome of poems “Leaves of Grass,” Whitman writes as follows: “Of physiology from top to toe I sing / Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse / I say the Form complete is worthier far / The Female equally with the Male I sing.”
As I read Whitman, the poet tried to set a moral course that we’ve yet to follow; whereas Whitman celebrated individual freedom in the context of the human spirit, the country has gone the way of individual pride. This difference, at its primal core, is an emotional disposition of the individual’s relationship to the greater collective. As I read the Gospels, Jesus of Nazareth not only understood this nuance between pride and spirit but was rather emphatic about the subject.
By delving deeper than the context of the political-rational, progressives can break out of a reactive mode that can be so emotionally exhausting. By taking an emotional-social approach, the progressive movement can be reinvigorated by a spiritually sustaining vision. By striving to maximize the best of our nature, we can effectively minimize the worst of our nature: moving away from a fragmented society marked by individual passion and toward a harmonic society marked by collective compassion.
Ridiculous? Impossible? One should never underestimate the power of the muse and the imagination. As we recognize the 400th anniversary of the publication of “Don Quixote,” it reminds us that only those who attempt the ridiculous can ever hope to achieve the impossible. If Oregon loves dreamers, as the state motto portends, let us be dreamers. We, ourselves, must assume the leadership of the country. We, ourselves, must be the uniters, not the dividers. As a local bumper sticker proclaimed, if the people lead, our leaders
will follow.
Brad Hachten is a graduate student
