In one of Robert Henricks’ translation of the Tao Te Ching, which he titles the Te Tao Ching (because the text he works from was found with what is usually known to be the second half of the work placed first), he has a nice little formulation:  Way is vast, it can move left or right.  Or something like that (I don’t have my copy at home with me here just now).  That line jumped into my mind when I read this story today in the NYT:
Young Americans Are Leaning Left, New Poll Finds.

     I have sensed something like this among my students in recent years.  Not a radical shift, but a gradual flow to more liberal political beliefs.  The catastrophe of the Bush administration has no doubt contributed in recent  years.  He has put a face of abiding incompetence on ideological conservatism. 

     It was not always this way.  I have a clear memory of the first class I taught, way back at the University of Wisconsin in 1984.  It was an introduction to international relations and I had cause to mention the name "Jimmy Carter."  Audible hisses issued from the crowd of about 120 students in the large lecture hall.  It did not throw me off – little can throw me off when I am in class.  But I certainly noticed it.  We were, by then, well into the Reagan era and I was feeling increasingly alienated from mainstream American politics, which was marching resolutely to the right.

     But Way is vast.  It moves left and right.  When things are pressing too much in one direction or another, it finds a new balance.  And, so, it seems to be happening in US politics.  It took a long time – about 20 years – but it moves.

     Or, another way to look at it, a way I try to hold to: the kids are alright.