Millennial Owen Alderson on 'The Case for Idealism'

Cincinnati, Ohio. We have all heard this iconic JFK quote:

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone…

Just seven years after that speech, his prophecy of completing this “impossible” task came true. How did we get there? One could cite the vast technological innovations, the appropriation of funds to the Apollo mission, competition with the U.S.S.R., etc. as the catalysts for the accomplishment.

Apollo 13: One small step for man, one giant step for mankind. Photo: Wikipedia.

Although these factors are essential to the success of the space program, there is a profound ideology that was responsible for our journey to the moon: Idealism. The real engine that propelled us to the moon was not just the technicality of scientific and administrative increments, but the audacity to defy conventional logic in our ambition. We did not go to the moon in spite of it being hard, but instead because it was hard, accepting Kennedy’s challenge to reach beyond our expectations and achieve an ideal.

Flash forward to 2016.

Despite the wave of enthusiasm that carried Obama’s idealist message into the White House - and by no fault of any one person - his presidency has not been successful in healing our political rifts. In addition, the divisive rhetoric of 2016’s primary season has contributed to the deep wounds of ideological division that have persisted through what was supposed to be the era of hope and change, indicating that Obama’s successor will have an even harder time overcoming our seemingly insurmountable differences.

The widely-held solution is to accept this as the new normal, and give up on finding common ground. Idealism is dismissed as naiveté. Idealism is viewed as a waste of time, and an unrealistic affliction of millennials like myself.

But what if we apply the lesson of our journey to the Moon to today’s volatile political climate?

There is certainly an argument to be made for shaping one’s beliefs around the mindset of strict pragmatism. However, instead of settling for a lower standard of sociopolitical well-being, the time is ripe for powerful idealist thinking - perhaps even more so than in 2008 - in order to inspire meaningful change by setting the bar higher than our jaded expectations.

Our journey to the Moon is only one example of what idealistic goal-setting and long-term thinking can accomplish. It’s the kind of thinking that made possible the New Deal, the Civil Rights Act, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. These are iconic victories in idealist thinking, yet there is a prevailing sentiment that those victories lie solely in the past, and have no place in our dysfunctional present.

We must remember that each and every one of these accomplishments was a direct response to the extreme challenges of its time. More importantly, the benefits reaped from these events were the products of the seeds sown by radically optimistic thinking, that rejected the notion that future aspirations should be confined to the bitter realities of the present.

To think that our current turmoil is somehow more complex and irreversible than the turmoil surrounding these examples is unjustifiably cynical. Yes, it is often difficult to resist cynicism when our system appears to be beyond repair. Rather than dedicating our energy inflating our differences, however, we should let the last eight years push us to dedicate that energy to achieving our highest ideals.

Whether you are liberal, conservative, or moderate, a Democrat or a Republican, constructive optimism rooted in an ideal vision for our country is imperative to reversing the current trend of stalemate at all levels of civic life. To affect change, we must first realize that we are capable of affecting change in the first place, and allow ourselves to pursue our loftiest ambitions as attainable challenges rather than unrealistic fantasies.

Our Democratic system has lately been plagued with the notion that somehow, individual Americans have lost the ability to determine the future, and that as a result, we must think small. But let us not forget the fruits that our Democratic system provides to us, and the responsibility we have to hold that system to the highest standard possible.

It has never been our civic duty to fall in line with the status quo. On the contrary, our voting rights, freedom to peacefully assemble, and freedom to openly criticize our government provide us with the civic duty to use those rights to our advantage, in order to strive towards the “more perfect union” that the founding fathers intended. And you don’t achieve a “ more perfect" union until you visualize what your “ perfect ” union looks like. Even though true perfection is unattainable, the constant pursuit of perfection is what allows us to collectively arrive at excellence, a result unachievable by only pursuing what’s “good enough.”

Yes, I am a millennial. And, yes, I am therefore open to criticism for dreaming irrationally. What I hope to illustrate, however, is that idealism doesn’t just make one feel warm and fuzzy inside. It is also the most practical long-term solution to our ailments as well, and the mindset that will help us reach our goals of reforming taxation, criminal justice, wages, foreign policy, and more in the most expeditious way.

Now is not the time to lower our expectations. It’s time to raise them.

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