Sad but true

People sometimes ask what made me leave the East Coast and move to Seattle 20 years ago. I usually mumble something about not liking the cynical, jaded outlook on life so pervasive in the urban East.

In a recent Salon interview, British folk activist Billy Bragg articulates exactly what it was that got my goat and currently gets his:

A long time ago, I realized that the true enemy of those of us who wished to make a better world were not the conservatives -- neo or cultural -- nor the capitalists -- corporate or alternative -- but the cynics: Those who have given up and are trying to get everybody else to follow suit so they don't feel so bad about themselves.