(The Impossible Task of) Shaping One's Own Political Thinking
Late bloomers, busy bodies, and newly awakened political beings—this is for you
The more I commit myself to the impossible task of shaping my own political thinking, the more I find myself in a deep, dark pit of historical errors and ordinary people doing their best to make sense of those errors in order to make a way forward while resisting the urge to profess that there is only one true way forward. I’m in good company, but it’s a lonely journey. I’m angry. I’m exhausted. I wake up every day with the knowledge that people are dead and dying for no reason.
Every person has a unique moment of political awakening, but it isn’t always the moment where our political education begins. Sometimes I feel as if I didn’t have a choice. At least for me, I was born this way. I was born radical. I was born with a deep, internal sense that everything I was encountering didn’t have to be this way.