Ugh.
I saw this term on a Washington Post story today about the possibility of Oprah Winfrey running for President. Apparently liberal activist Ralph Nader is recruiting potential candidates for office.
I appreciate the effort. I don’t care for the term.
He’s come up with this label – apparently people are calling this category of our society “MERPs” – to define a cross-section of our population who are both wealthy plus liberal.
You cannot be “modestly enlightened.” You are either Enlightened, or you’re not.
I understand that people use the term “enlightened” in many ways, but seeing this is just another laughable symptom of the Kaliyuga (which loosely translates to “age of darkness” – don’t freak out about that, it just means that fewer people meditate on the planet right now).
And if you’re so lucky to be in Nader’s MERP category, wouldn’t you be at least modestly offended?
I imagine that anyone who is out there promoting social justice and inequality and putting their money where their mouths are to help the cause in such a major way would probably see themselves as more than “modestly” progressive. Which is how we’re interpreting the term “enlightened” in this context.
This list includes people like Oprah, Bill Gates, Ted Turner and Barry Diller. I obviously don’t know any of them personally however an offhand guess is that these people are used to getting their way. It’s very possible that they treat others well, but they likely also have a strong sense of self. This label seems to be a bit of a put-down to me.
If you’re trying to recruit people to go out and take even bigger risks than they already are doing, and put themselves on the line in such a public way, you’d think that maybe you’d try to be a little more diplomatic.
It’s great to see the liberal side trying to organize and being proactive and forward-thinking. It’s great that there’s even a list of 20 progressives with money enough to make a difference in the world. But “modestly enlightened”? Nope, not seeing it. Sorry.
And Oprah as President? Hmmm.
I guess if we had The Terminator running California for awhile, then sure, it’s in the realm of possibility. Stranger things have happened.
It would be pretty darned awesome to have a truly Enlightened Being in high office one day. The world is shifting. Who knows what the future will bring.
But sorry, Nader. And apologies to Ms. Winfrey. But Oprah won’t be that.