by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
I’ve mentioned this before, but feel like talking about it again. While I generally think of myself as a moderate liberal, some of the people on the Left who absolutely hate someone like Taylor Swift for what she symbolizes — the center — really bug me. I’m empathetic to these Leftists and I understand what bothers them about Swift and The Center, and, yet I rather like having some sort of “center’ (both politically and culturally) that we can use as a frame of reference.
Swift is the last vestige of the America I grew up in, in her own way. It is understandable why insane Nazis thought she was some sort of idyllic Norse demigod. Thankfully, she put their beliefs to rest. But the fact that even Swift, of all people, can’t simply be in The Middle without both the Left and the Right hating on her for what they believe she is — or isn’t — is a sad testament to where our nation is headed.
What’s even more interesting about this is America is hurdling towards a moment when it’s going to be minority majority. And, as such, the very thing that Swift represents middle brow centrist white America, will, in itself, be a thing of the past. We risk, of course, having no center at all and if that happens then, well, the United States collapses for lack of shared values, if nothing else.
We’ll finally be two countries — rich, young multicultural Blue States on the coast, and poor, old white Red States in the interior. At that point, the question will be how many people die when “purple” states like Virginia tear themselves apart. But that’s still a ways down the road.
I guess what I’m trying to say is the Left is doing itself no favors long term by hating on the Center. We need a Center as a place where our shared values come together long enough for us know, well, what they are. If we all simply worry about intersectional this or that cultural / political “ism,” then the Right — which has a much more uniform ideology — will grow only more and more powerful for no other reason than many people who would be empathetic to the Left will be turned off by its shrill nature and bank Right.
I don’t know. These are just some thoughts off the top of my head. No one listens to me and when they do they usually get mad.
