The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Twilight of the Kings of Comfort

I was responding to a post over on Handsome’s blog (scroll down to “COMFORT ZONE”) when it struck me that noting his post and making a post in turn about it would be the best approach. Whether one sees this as an expanding juggling act of reciprosity or an ouroborous of incestuous circularity or a huge, flaming mound of manure is, as always, up to you. H found himself mulling over something I’d written a while back about how comfort figures into the political scene, and his ruminations led me to the following:

It's not clear what it will take to get people to vote for change.

Sure, if things get bad enough, more will be moved to vote for change, but if things get that bad there'll be enough arguments against doing much of it as there is for it because the economic conditions will be all the more dire. It's always the same, with even those who believe in a better world for the most people it never seems to be quite The Right Time to do it.

People have bought into this big time, too, finding maximum comfort in a phrase -- spoken by oh so many armchair liberals -- that embodies the have your cake and eat it too rationale that says they're all for changes, but believe this isn't the best time to make those changes a reality. The phrase?

"I'm a social liberal, but I'm a fiscal conservative."

How many times have you heard that? Perhaps even said it? Though I can’t specifically recall doing it, I may be guilty of it. Even if I never spoke the words, I’m certainly guilty of the sentiment. Guilty of the inaction.

It sounds so completely reasonable - and there is reason in there, which is what makes it so insidious - and it covers all the bases, all but absolving the speaker of any blame. It gives us license to wait until economic conditions are “better” before we can justify doing something. I don’t believe it’s too cynical a turn of mind to believe that what constitutes “better” will forever prove as elusive as food and water were to Tantalus, though it may be helpful to keep in mind that in this scenario it's us, not the invisible hands of the gods, that's denying the food and drink.
(Thanks to I'm a Crypt Leak for the manure fires of the prairies link, btw.) (This is post #476)