A Young Republican Goes Progressive

by K. A. Radzik

April 24, 2006

I freely admit it—I was one of the young Republicans.  Emboldened with the fervor of my first opportunity to vote, I jumped onto the train of American patriotism and cast my ballot for Reagan.
 
I, like most of my senior-level government class, was overflowing with enthusiasm and confidence for a strong America.  We were sure our votes would make a difference.  At least we thought so in 1984. . . .
 
So what’s changed since then?  Downtrodden and chewed up by a hyperproductive, technologically overloaded existence, we checked out.  Visions and dreams for an idyllic America vanished in a frenzy of planners, palm pilots, and cell phones.
 
But the dream never truly died, just fell dormant, buried beneath the detritus of our modern world.  So when this new concept, this progressive spirituality idea found me, something deep within was re-kindled.  Here was a vision of a new America.  Not my high-school version—the chief good guy that would defeat all evils and save the world from itself—but a grown-up mature vision of an America that would lead by example, with acts of astonishing goodness and caring.
 
As a young Republican, I longed for a nation of character, to be part of a society of which I could be proud.  I wanted to be one of the guys with the white hats.  The Spiritual Progressive movement is offering us that hat.  Imagine an America where choices are based on what is right, rather than what is appealing to the media.  Dream of a world of kindness and generosity, where Americans can take leadership in making great things happen.  Imagine a new mode of operation that releases us from our productivity quotas and bottom lines and values the many different kinds of contributions each and every American can make.
 
Is this Utopian?  You bet.  But so were our Reaganite dreams of a world saved by American power.
 
Can we make this happen?  Look at our history.  America has been at the forefront of many transformations: the establishment of democracy, civil rights, women’s rights, just to name a few.  A republican in the truest sense of word recognizes and values the power of the individual to band with a group of like-minded people to make something happen and their intrinsic right to do so.
 
This is our country and our world.  If we say we are tired of senseless politics, hostile workplaces, standardized high-pressure classrooms, and a threatened environment, we as members of the republic have the power to change all of that.  That is why I am so excited about the spiritual progressive movement.  It speaks to the longings of my soul to create a better world, a world where why we do what we do as Americans matters, where what we do could be a shining example to all. 
 
Republic or democrat, religious or atheist, we can work together to make this happen.  And that is why a young Republican has become progressive.

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