smarter

She’s smarter than this. I know she is.

We met many years ago. We shared a computer programming class. She was funny, articulate and entertaining, the distraction was welcome. She lived just a few left turns from myself, less than a mile.

Our friendship grew through high school and more so in college; we attended the same school. We saw each other occasionally on the large campus and knew some of each other’s friends. We shared rides back home and talked about many things—some serious, most not. Her intellect was attractive. She became a confidant.

She let for the east after college. We rarely see each other now. We chat through instant messages and email. Lately, probably because of the too-long campaign, we’ve been discussing politics regularly.

I don’t want her to see things how I do. She doesn’t deserve that. She’s smarter than this.

She feeds off assumptions, that I’m far-left with my head in an idealistic cloud. Or she thinks I’m a pessimist who cannot be swayed by her undying optimism. Or that I’m a socialist trying desperately to corrupt her perspective.

Her arguments are hear-say, trite and unrelenting based on the same opinion-filled spin mine are. She makes her points based on Media influence; small solutions for issues that are never painted into a larger picture. Her optimism is impressive, if slightly disappointing.

She’s smarter than this. She believes in the “invisible hand” and bases many of her points on the imaginary rules of the market. The market is working well. I try to tell her it’s working too well, that the fundamentals of that market are flawed.

She’s jaded to the lofty dreams of the left, rightly fearing a forfeiture of influence to the government. She sees more governmental power as the ultimate in personal-freedom assault. I try to tell her we’re already forfeiting ourselves to the unaccountable corporate elite and an imperialist regime based on unending fear.

She feels corporations are obliged to the consumer, that they will always work in their self-interest and thus in the interest of the masses. Without consumers there is no market and thus no profit. I try to tell her uninformed consumers cannot make decisions in their own self-interest; they are playthings of marketing juggernauts.

She refuses universal health care as an option, knowing that there are alternatives out there. Health care is expensive and thus the insurance should be expensive. A government option will only push us toward socialism. I try to tell her how terrible our health care is and that its costs are increasing faster than other areas of the economy—save national defense.

She believes the population still has control of the elected officials, that the government is working for the people. The economy is corroded but it’s fundamentally sound and those that can’t help themselves are helped. I try to tell her those that can’t help themselves are ignored and if current trends continue they will be factored out completely, a large peasant class in the richest country on Earth.

She thinks the media is working to inform the public. The Media is there to translate issues to the average view, to keep them up to date on what’s happening. Media is liberally biased and against the government, keeping it in check. I try to tell her Media has reduced itself to knee-jerk info-tainment with a strong conservative lean that almost unanimously supports the imperialist doctrine and facilitates the fear it’s based on.

She knows the earth is warming and change is necessary. There’s a shortening time-line that needs to be addressed. The market will compensate and bring about that change. I try to tell her the market omits resource consumption in its basic equation, that relies on ever-increasing consumption to impress imaginary progress.

She knows we consume too much and fears what will happen when countries consuming at a fraction of our pace catch up. We have no reason to thwart consumption and that such things will hinder our economy. I try to tell her basic population growth means our current consumption levels will grow anyway, that we already consume more than Earth can produce daily.

She’s smarter than this. She sees the system in a slow-down. She knows the issues and has great ideas which direction we should to go solve them. She knows change is necessary but sees only superficial connections within the failures. The chasm between rich and poor is exaggerated and will correct itself in time. Our administration needs to be tough on terrorism and strong enough to incapacitate any threat. We need a smaller government.

The market will adapt to the changing economic crises more efficiently than any government could. The corporations will supply all the wages and benefits everyone needs and reduce their environmental impact to match social trends. She sees a bright future built on the crumbling present.

I see the entire system imploding. Cutting costs in education creates pools of consumers with more interest in celebrity gossip than international affairs and who buy products that are barely inspected by low-paid workers because of smart and expensive marketing campaigns. The giant structure of national security has failed on every occasion to prevent threats to security and the War on Terror is a trumped up slogan to justify human rights violations and neo-colonialism.

The voter doesn’t have any real influence on government. Corporate interests create policy. Consumers, both in government and the market, are left without say or access. I see the same bright future built on the ashes of the current ideology.

She’s smarter than this. I don’t want her to see things through my distorted lens. I don’t want her head to ache during the news, to feel the crushing helplessness. I admire her blind optimism and faith in the system as is, the devotion to the simplified views that taught us our country was the greatest on Earth.

I only want her to realize each small piece of the crumbling facade is part of a larger collapse. I don’t want her to fear countries one-tenth our economic might because the frightened media does. I wanter her to read articles and watch broadcasts with an open mind, more open than what manifests itself chatting with her.

Sometimes, out discussions get heated but she is one of the few I really talk to. No one else allows me the freedom to argue against the current state of affairs. Her views are refreshing. Brought up with others, my points are disregarded, laughed at or agreed with easily.

Her view of things is fundamentally different. She takes for granted her opportunities and privileges and so do I. I can only hope she’s able to see truth in what’s handed to her, hope she pushes to the front of change and doesn’t fall back into the blissfully ignorant throng.

It’s been just over a decade since we first sat next to one another facing computers. We still stare at screens but are now many miles apart. We grew up two-thirds of a mile from one another but our discussions make it clear how far apart we’ve grown. That we still have discussions is something I’ll always appreciate.

Because she’s smarter than I am.