Motivation for Liberals

I think we would benefit from reading more books by Republicans. I know there is a whole library of books coming out these days by progressive authors informing us on the horrors of the war, the obscene excesses of our consumer economy, the evils of the corporate takeover of the world - the list of dragons to slay is nearly inexhaustible. And I’m so grateful to these creative people for taking the time to dig up the dirt and inform us about it. And for getting us riled up. But I’m concerned about our attitude.

I know a man who writes books about success and does motivational workshops with business leaders. I haven’t talked to him in a few years, but I just found out from his distraught sister that he’s a Republican. While I was deeply saddened by this news – he’s a sweet, creative guy who can sing Elvis to make you cry – I wasn’t surprised. His teachings are all about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps – a philosophy that we’ve all seen works really well for privileged white men. (It’s just a little more complicated for the rest of us, but that’s not the focus of this essay. Suffice to say, it’s hard to pull yourself up by the bootstraps with someone else’s boots standing on your chest.) But let’s look at some of the techniques these types of motivational courses and books teach…

Believing in yourself in the face of adversity. Taking risks. Letting go of negative, defeatist thinking. Trusting your creative impulses. Getting organized, setting goals, making plans and sticking to them. Constantly raising the bar for your achievements. Knowing you’re going to win because you deserve it. Using any and all resources at your disposal. Learning new technologies and techniques to achieve your goals.

The other day I was at a meeting for a canvassing effort organized by the Democratic Party. When we were discussing the details of the plan, and someone observed that parts of it were not completely clear, one woman laughed lightly and dismissively and said “Oh well, we’re Democrats and you know we’ve never been all that organized!”

O.K. I know the same type of open-minded, mellow, accommodating spirit that draws people to the Democrat or Other tickets also tends to be a little loosey-goosey on details, and is more improvisational than structured. We color outside the lines. We play. I love that about us.

But let me just suggest integrating some of these ideas about motivation and success, and applying them to the task at hand. We know our goal: to get these criminals out of office and restore our country to some semblance of sanity, integrity, and dignity, and to rebuild our democracy. So let’s do what we need to do to achieve that goal. Despite the plethora of bad examples in the world, you don’t actually have to be an aggressive jerk to be successful in your undertakings. You just need to cultivate some new skills and beliefs.

I’m sure by now most of you have read the letter circulating around by Michael Moore about letting go of our habitual defeatist attitudes and rallying behind John Kerry. I was so refreshed by it, weren’t you? I just want to add an image of my own if I may:

When you’re on a team about to play a big game against a highly-ranked opponent, do you all sit around in your locker room saying “Oh, well, we probably can’t win, they’re really good, they always win, ho hum, it’s O.K., it’s just a game, I’ll open my eyes when it’s over…”? Hell, no! You rally. You get louder and bolder and fiercer. You tell the other team just how you’re going to wipe the floor with them. You have your cheerleaders bouncing and your brass band pumping away as big and brash as they can. And you play your asses off.

And this is a really big game, y’all. Maybe the biggest one ever.

We’ve got to know that we’re winning. Go to all of the events you can that bring our team together. Take a look at the amazing, beautiful, creative, colorful people around you. We are legion. Let it fill you up. Know that it’s happening all over, and that the whole world is watching. Embrace this responsibility. Rise to it. Or, in the words of that old bastion of conservatism, the U.S. Army: Be All That You Can Be! It’s time.