Having finished reading Breakthrough again, post-class discussion, I still really liked this book. However, I will concede a point to my classmates that it does little to really provide practical policy direction. Breakthrough really is strongly rooted in psychology, not political science or environmental science, and while I really did enjoy reading a book the draws together so much of what I know, it may have been difficult to appreciate within the context of our course. Whether their criticism of piecemeal environmental fixes is warranted or not, and regardless of the viability and efficacy of their energy investment and health care proposals, this really is a good read. I am also quite certain from the parallels between this book and President Obama's speeches and online presence that he must have been strongly influenced by these two men and their ideas. Certainly they know each other somewhat, from the mention of Senator Obama's involvement in a policy project in the latter portion of this book. And just as certainly, Mr. Obama has adopted a very positive, future-oriented tone in all of his addresses to his public. His State of the Union address, given within a time of economic uncertainty easily equal to that of the Great Depression, was designed to acknowledge the nation's problems and inject hope and empowerment into the American people.
I've been playing through a few of my newer albums this weekend, while reading, and with all this thinking about optimism in politics, part of my brain went off on a tangent on the word "fall." It occurs a lot in Breakthrough, often in quotes and paraphrases from environmentalists and social critics, usually in a context of man's fall from some past Eden or semi-Utopia to our present depraved conditions. However, in my playlists I have two songs in particular that also center on falling. One is sung by Josh Groban, "Let Me Fall," from a Cirque de Soleil program; the other is "Fall," sung by Clay Walker. Both are meant to be more uplifting/positive, at least in that they both ascribe no fault to the person falling, and imply that the result of falling need not be disastrous, but they differ markedly in explaining what keeps the fall from ending badly.
Mr. Walker's song rests in the realm of community, in that the speaker is there to catch the one falling, cushioning their fall, a fall that has been just waiting to happen. In this narrative, the fall is occasioned by letting go and accepting the weakness and exhaustion underlying the constant effort put forth by the one falling. I am sure many if not all of us have experienced this to some extent, that sense of hanging on by one's toenails in the face of fatigue or lingering fatalism. Certainly when there is someone there to catch you, there's nothing wrong with accepting their gift of support. But too often there is no one, which is what makes this song not just soothing but potentially quite depressing.
"Let Me Fall," on the other hand, puts its faith in the ability of the individual falling to find their own strength and courage to not just deal with the consequences of having fallen, but to let go and fall knowing there is no one waiting below with open arms or a safety net. Where Clay Walker's song is grounding, a story of a fall to the earth, Josh Groban's song is a narrative of falling and quite possibly catching the wind to fly, like the fall of an albatross. This song doesn't pretend falling is any less scary for our being able to fly, nor is it impossible for us to crash, but the only way to get into the air is to let go. Ideally I suppose it would be best to have that strength and courage and still have someone waiting in case of a crash, of course, but why make someone wait on the ground if they could fly too?
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