Evil. Suspect. Immoral. Dirty and shameful. Something no one should be proud to admit either having or enjoying. But mostly ... the ultimate temptation to succumb to selfish hedonism and to betray ideals.
In both cases - sex and money - knee-jerk condemnation of those who enjoy either is stupid, simplistic thinking.
Of course, we recognize it when we condemn it in Republicans. After all, we think, who but a right-wing fundie would think that love consummated between two consenting adults, whatever their gender, whatever the position, is a sin?
But we rarely recognize this one-dimensional, stereotypical assumption in ourselves when we apply it to those who have money. After all, who but a liberal would think wealth, no matter how honorably earned, no matter how honorably spent, is a stain upon the idealistic, progressive soul?
We pride ourselves in this burgeoning people-powered movement on giving voice to the true views held by average Americans. For the most part, we're right. Polls consistently show that most citizens now agree that the Iraq war was a mistake, that President Bush is a lousy president, that clean air and water are priorities, that good schools for our kids are necessary and that our health care system needs a major overhaul. The one area that liberal activists often seem seriously out of touch with mainstream views is attitudes toward money.
Most Americans view economic success as a validation of their hard work, savvy, entrepreneurship and an indication that they are meeting a previously unmet need for their fellow citizens. But too often in progressive circles, an individual living anywhere above the federal poverty guideline is dismissed as "selling out" or being co-opted. Of course, in a few individual instances, this may be the case. But these, I would argue, are aberrations, and even the right wing recognizes it as such; the constant railing from conservatives about limousine liberals and George Soros show that they at least get it: liberals with some money in their pockets can be a fearsome thing when it comes to funding candidates, issues, think tanks, progressive infrastructure. Far from selling out, liberals with wealth - and I'm including some with inherited wealth like the Kennedy family - are the right's worst nightmare.
The fact is, money is a tool. In and of itself, it is absolutely neutral. It can be spent for good, it can be spent for evil. Just like a hammer, it can be used either to bash someone's head in or to build a house. We don't condemn the tool as inherently suspect, but the uses to which it is put, and to label anyone who starts earning decent money as immediately suspicious is as ludicrous as Republicans condemning anyone enjoying consensual sex outside the strictures of Leviticus as sinful.
As we are seeing more and more progressives able to make a full-time living off of giving voice to our movement, this "money is evil" mindset must be reexamined. People like Markos, John Aravosis, Duncan Black ... well, I glory that what they have to say is worth paying them to write it or say it. As Air America gains markets and advertisers, I rejoice that the views expressed there are valued enough to be acquiring some serious coin. I'm dizzy with happiness at the thought that Michael Moore made a shitload off of Farenheit 911.
I want this movement's best minds and hearts in a comfortable financial position. I want them undistracted by calling landlords each month to whine and wheedle about overdue rent. I want them fully focused on building our infrastructure, networking, getting our message out by any means necessary. I want them to be able to hire help if they need it. I trust them, you see, to use their time and money wisely, and here, for me, is where the real nub of the problem lies and the frightening parallel with the right-wing condemnation of sex for pleasure.
I've long thought that the individuals on the right who assume sexual freedom will give rise to all sorts of inarguably exploitive sexual situations - pedophilia, rape, manipulation of the trusting sexual partner and abandonment - are telling us a lot more about their own dark side than about the reality of most of our sexual relationships. And I often give a silent prayer of thanks that they are tamping themselves down, even as I resent their efforts to impose their strictures on the rest of us who have managed to handle our sex lives with some dignity.
I've now come to view objections to other progressives acquiring money and the accompanying power in the same light. It's telling me a whole lot more about what these purist economic protestors who want us all starving in garrets would do with a large chunk of change than what the folks now earning a living through progressivism will do in the future.
Thus, if you don't trust yourself to handle money wisely in the service of your ideals ... please, stay away from it. But don't impose your own knee-jerk economic prejudices on your fellow progressives. Instead, welcome the flourishing as evidence that our moment is arriving and we are connecting with America in a way that shows people are willing to pay to have us build our people-powered vision.
Liberals can handle money and its accompanying temptation, I'm certain. Sit back and watch. It's about to happen.