Opinion: Thankful I still support progressive change

When I was growing up, from adolescence to young adulthood, I was unabashedly liberal. I remember how older people would tell me that, as I aged, I’d become more conservative, like them.

It sorta happened, but not nearly as much as they predicted. Over the years I did move toward the center of the political spectrum, but I never became a bona fide conservative.

By the time I hit my mid-50s, I was a registered independent, but that was mostly owed to my years in journalism, when I learned, mainly through experience, that there are legitimate points to be made on both sides of the political equation. It’s what journalists are trained to seek out.

Unfortunately, however, not too long after my 60th birthday, Donald Trump became president, and that sent me back to the progressives’ corner.

I’ve always held certain American values close to my heart — democracy, justice, freedom and fairness being at the top of that list. Other, lesser American values, such as greed and tribalism, I tend to reject.

And while I miss the “good old days” when “girls were girls and men were men” I’m under no illusion that things were better back then than they are now.

In fact, I’m somewhat amazed at how blind so many baby boomers are to the realities of our past.

Take the “girls were girls and men were men” line as an example (stolen from the theme song to the groundbreaking television show, “All In The Family”). Sure, things were much simpler when everyone pretended to be straight and male testosterone ruled the world, but were those days really better?

Now, we’re told that gender identity is a spectrum and that offends a lot of people my age. But why? Personally, I’m secure in my own maleness, even my heterosexuality, but some older people decry all the talk about “nonbinary” identities as if it’s destroying our nation. News flash: It’s not, nor will it, so get over yourselves.

Have you heard the “OK Boomer” jokes, fellow old people? It’s not flattering. Younger generations have turned the phrase into a sarcastic dismissal of our rants against many of the progressive changes taking place in the modern world. I’ve had it said to me when I go off on technology and, believe me, it’s not a sign of respect.

But then, maybe that’s exactly what my generation deserves.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve always believed in respecting our elders, and that certainly doesn’t stop just because I’m old now myself. But I also have “peers” who have gone into denial regarding the realities the world now faces, and that doesn’t deserve anyone’s respect.

Climate change is a case in point.

In 2006, the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” came out, with Al Gore laying out a data-based narrative showing that global warming was underway and that it would only get worse if we didn’t turn to cleaner energy alternatives. But despite the warnings, we didn’t do a damn thing about it. Instead, we failed future generations by politicizing the issue and neutralizing any real effort to clean up the atmosphere.

So now, if the younger generations want to dismiss our opinions and address climate change in their own way, I can’t blame them. It’s their future being threatened, not ours.

Still, I would like to remind younger readers that we boomers aren’t all ostriches sticking our heads in the sand. Al Gore, after all, is a boomer, as are many others who have pushed our nation to be better than it was before. Don’t let greedy old geezers like Donald Trump deceive you into thinking we’re all worthless, because we aren’t.

As for me, I’m thankful that I still support progressive change. It may not stave off my old age, but it sure as hell keeps me hopeful.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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