When I was sixteen, I had a conversation with my uncle about politics. It wasn't a detailed conversation, but my uncle said one thing that stuck with me. "All young men," he said, "are liberals. And as they get older, their priorities change and they become conservatives." Actually, he probably said it with more eloquence than that, but it was almost half a lifetime ago, and I wasn't really listening; I was too busy fiercely defending my denial of this viewpoint-- I felt like it was an attack on my beliefs, and very reflexively refused to consider that my viewpoints were something that could be changed over time.

I think the hardest part of growing up is discovering that you've been a chump.

Not that my uncle proved immediately correct-- as I got older, I became more and more liberal. Somewhere in the last five or six years, though, I've started to understand what my uncle meant. My priorities are changing. I still consider myself a liberal, but as I've gotten closer to thirty (I'm only months away as I write this), I'm finding more and more liberals are getting on my nerves. It's not that I disapprove of their motives, but I find that they seem to be shouting their opinions without thinking about them, and in some cases, refusing to think about them.

I once read an article-- I can't find it now, unfortunately-- detailing the problems of the Environmentalist movement. The author seemed sympathetic to the cause, but pointed out that most environmental organizations were doomed from the start-- not because they didn't have a good cause, not because they weren't capable people, but because they were structured in a way that practically guaranteed that nothing could actually get done. Too much priority was placed on doing things in a politically correct fashion, and too little emphasis on actually getting things done quickly.

When I read the article, I was immediately reminded of the Pagan Community.

My personal passion is the concept of a Pagan Community Center. I've attempted to start one-- unsuccessfully-- and I've talked to many people involved in building one or attempting to build one. While many of the problems such projects face are of the normal variety that any such organization-- Pagan or not-- would expect to face, so many of the issues they have to deal with are unique to left-leaning politics.

I've come to the conclusion that the reason the right wing gets away with so much, despite the fact that it outrages most of the country, is because they actually have an understanding of the classic adage "you can't please all of the people all of the time." Sometimes getting the job done isn't pretty, and sometimes the best option isn't the popular one. Sometimes you just have to do what works.

Of course, I don't always agree with what the right wing does, but it's worth noting that they manage to actually get it done. In the Pagan Community, I see a lot of groups being distracted from doing what legitimately needs to be done because it's not going over very well with a very vocal subset of the community.

For example... how much priority can you afford to give people who go to a gathering and spend five hundred dollars on kitsch, then complain about paying five dollars at the door for something local? I know that there are some people who will react to that last statement with horror ("How can you dismiss somebody's opinion outright like that?"). It's not that their opinions don't matter at all, but for crying out loud, if we're going to have any kind of organization, it's going to take money. It doesn't matter if it's an unpleasant fact; you don't have the right to demand something for free because you're against paying for things. Try that at the grocery store.

Others loudly complain that they don't want organization, but I reject that outright. If you don't want organization, you quite simply don't have to show up. But you don't have the right to tell other people that they can't.

Now obviously, these organizations have to deal with people a bit more delicately than, oh, say, a columnist does. Those unwilling to pay now might change their mind down the road once they have a chance to see what a real organization can offer. Those that rebel against organization may discover that their fears were unneccessary. In fact, the growth of such an organization depends on at least some people having such a change of heart.

However, we as a community need to stop expecting our organizations to cater completely to such people. Either they want organizations, or they need to stay out of the way of the people who do. Too often these organizations are torn down, not just by the people I'm describing, but also by the people who expect you to make everybody happy, even if they have unrealistic expectations. And the "conventional wisdom" that "Pagans are broke" is hooey... yes, some Pagans are broke, but I'd wager that a majority of the people who use that excuse simply don't place a high enough priority on the Pagan Community.

It's not for me to assign someone's priorities for them, but I don't think it's right for people to hide behind an excuse like that, and still expect to get everything they want. These organizations have been working hard to serve the people who do think it's important, and slowly they're starting to bring these people around to their way of thinking. But until then, they have to concentrate on the people who are willing to contribute time and/or money to these organizations.

It's simply a matter of priorities.

(Note: Since this was first posted, it has been brought to my attention that my uncle was probably quoting Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), who said "Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.")

© 2002 by Cather "Catalyst" Steincamp