In the rush-to-judgment milieu in which we live these days, the quick answer to whether or not I am a political conservative, quote unquote, would be a resounding no. Thank you. I’m a conscious politics practitioner, but nobody wants to hear about that. So in the real world, I absolutely identify more than anything as a political progressive, though I’ve been known to set the hair of some fellow progressives on fire, from time to time, with takes on things they would expect, they say, from ultra-conservatives. And while I usually align with progressives on policy, I almost never do on tactics, which renders me the skunk at all the progressive picnics. Hmm.
Cut to when I recently found myself driving a truck — something I rarely do. It was a rental for moving stuff and the cab was not backed by a wall of see-through glass but rather by a wall of truck: dark, nothing, nada. The rear-view mirror had been removed from the windshield requiring drivers to navigate reverse with side mirrors only. Bring it! At one point, I slowly backed up from between two other vehicles in the large, active lot in which I’d parked, monitoring the side mirrors and cutting the wheel sharply to the right at just the right moment, clearing the vehicle to my left, by inches, with the front left bumper of my truck. Now I was, appropriately, in one of the lanes of two-way traffic in the large lot. I stopped, put the truck in drive, and proceeded now with turning the wheel all the way to the left, clearing that same vehicle this time with my front right bumper, again with just a few inches to spare. I took a moment to marvel at how little space I had actually consumed to execute my semi-professional maneuver. Indeed, it was a conservative use of space. Ronald Reagan-conservative.
I began to think, then, about all the ways in which I really am conservative, as if by nature. Did somebody say “nature?” We belong to the planet, not the planet to us is one of the concepts that keeps us conscious politics practitioners in line. It means so many things, not least of which is how we are connected to Earth such that our natures are the same. Repeat: our human nature is the same as the planet’s nature. And part of the planet’s nature is wasting nothing. It wastes nothing, we American humans do. It’s an unconscious practice that produces all manner of deleterious effects, look around. If we returned to and realigned with our nature, we would not waste anything. Ever. Ask any indigenous culture.
This is about cultivating a consciousness amongst the masses that we are part of the planet and conserving is a byproduct of that consciousness.
Adherence to this concept has informed so much about how I’ve personally come to live my life. (Just me.) I can’t stand to waste anything anymore — water, paper, electricity, food, space, money, time, anything. My spirituality, my consciousness, has taught me how good it feels to conserve as an all-day, every day practice. That feeling is what it means to align with the nature of Nature, a new-consciousness practice that this concept encourages. That’s it. I’m not an environmental whacko, I’m not an eco-terrorist, and I don’t drink lattes. I’m just a guy whose spirituality/consciousness says act like the planet acts: don’t waste. And please don’t question the value or impact on the planet, today, of any of our individual practices because this isn’t about that. This is about cultivating a consciousness amongst the masses that we are part of the planet and conserving is a byproduct of that consciousness.
Ironically, political conservatives don’t seem to share this consciousness of conservation, not at all. I’ll never forget when conservative-icon-if-ever-there-was-one, Dick Cheney, just a few months after his first inauguration as vice president of the United States said, “energy conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it’s not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy.” Exqueeze me? Exactly why would a political conservative not champion conservation? Of anything? I’m confused. I’m more conservative than Dick fucking Cheney? I wouldn’t propose conservation as energy policy, Dick, but believing that we humans are part of the planet’s ecosystem inspires me to advocate for making conservation at least part of the policy. Anyone?
When conservation is a significant component of American energy/environmental policy, a standard public campaign would inject the practice of conservation into the zeitgeist, making conservation something we would pay more and more attention to, as individual Americans and as a America. And just as we award federal dollars to jurisdictions for things like investments in urban empowerment zones and innovations in education via something like the Obama era Race to the Top, it’s easy to imagine coopetition among regions, states, cities, counties, and municipalities for federal dollars based on creating innovative conservation programs at every level of government. This would move America itself into greater alignment with the nature of Nature, a conscious politics pursuit, something we’ve never seen before (like everything in the new consciousness). Wherever it takes us, I promise you it will best the result of a vice president — on behalf of an entire political party — brushing the concept aside like so much dandruff.
Here’s the point. If a conscious politics practitioner like me who otherwise identifies as a progressive but often enough seems to align with conservative practices and policies as a result of my conscious politics approach, a curious dynamic has emerged on our political landscape. It’s equally curious, I’d say, when a conscious politics practitioner identifies as a political conservative. Love that! The curiosity compounds when those who think and practice conservation do so for entirely different reasons (hello, fellow progressives). For starters. But if this dynamic and all its permutations makes things on our political landscape a little catawampus, if it makes us wonder, if it makes us re-jigger what “conservative” and “liberal” and “Democrat” and “progressive” and “independent” and “Republican” and “democratic socialist” actually mean, well, I’d say we’re onto something. Something big.
NOTE: Let’s talk about all the things at this month’s Spiritual Workout for Politics & Current Events Monthly Drop-In on Tuesday, August 17, from 5:00-6:30pm Pacific.
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