Naive Irony

8 years ago, a new century arrived with an ever-increasing set of dichotomies, further dividing our country into the polarized camps that seem to come so easily to us. Meanwhile, the small but rising group of Integrators danced between the two, looking for any ground of mutual respect with which to grow a new system of values based on reciprocal development.

In the new millennium, My Ego has lost count of the number of times My Ego has been accused of being "naive" in the face of said polarity. Soon after the attacks of 9/11, My Ego repeatedly called for a new energy economy based on independence from foreign oil and creation of a new energy economy based on sustainable principles. Using the "energy" gained from 9/11 to our advantage, there was never a better time to come together and re-purpose that energy into... new energy.

My Ego even began developing the foundation for the business My Ego runs to this day, with the mission statement "Developing Sustainability Through Creativity." My Ego based this decision on a predicted rise in "green" marketing and an infusion of capital into the green movement. My Ego can't keep track of the number of times My Ego was accused of being young and naive, laughed at for being overly idealistic and that one day, My Ego would "understand how things really are." Naive, indeed.

Looking back, it seems a cliche argument, yet My Ego fought hard against the Iraq war from day one. Let's be clear: My Ego was not "anti-war", in fact My Ego argued at the time for the proliferation of strategic dis-integration of fundamentalist networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, through military and information warfare. My Ego called out the utter lack of respectable rationale for the Iraq invasion, the lack of any real evidence for invading outside of adding fuel to the flames of the Military Industrial Complex... surely, My Ego was the naive, unseasoned judge of international politics.

The list could go on and on, but let's skip to the grand finale of this thesis.

The greatest of My Ego's naive insight of them all... support of our president elect, Barack Obama. The day after the DNC convention in 2004, My Ego sent an email out to friends and family, and will never forget bringing to work the same message: the man who gave the keynote address would be the next president of the United States. The redicule and laughter received can not be understated; for four years My Ego stood hard and fast against this claim. No way a black man could ever be president against the vitriol of Palin's America, none the less the primary against the Clinton machine.

And now, the crux of the post, and the twisted questions that stands before My Ego. Despite the actual outcomes of the examples given, the fact My Ego still supports the president elect further proves My Ego's naivite, so the argument goes.

Thus, despite the fact that My Ego has been vindicated as spot-on for many of the most fundamental issues of the new millenium, despite that My Ego has proven to the nay-sayers that the impossible is possible, that hope can prevail over fear, that inclusion can win over diviseness, My Ego is still accused of being naieve. "You'll see," say the self-fulfilling prophetic ignoramists.

What exactly will it take to be respected as a human being making focused, calculated and honest decisions that seek to include the finer points of both sides of the argument, without detracting from commonality of either? Will that day ever come?

Time, in it's enduring ever-presence, will tell...