I am a Liberal
I recently got embroiled in a Facebook discussion about guns. One of the participants wasn’t interested in the “pros and cons.” His goal: insult anyone who disagreed with his position. That’s the definition of a “troll,” and even those who disagreed with my positions called him out for it.
He called me a lot of names, but he seemed to think that the ultimate insult was “liberal.” I think I surprised him when I agreed – I am a Liberal.
I am a Liberal. What does that mean?
That it is the role of society to help those who cannot help themselves. We need to raise-up everyone in our society, and those that are more fortunate need to help those that are less fortunate.
Liberals believe that there are basic human rights for EVERY human, regardless of race, creed, color, religion, political philosophy, sexual identity, national status or other ways we can find to divide each other. This includes: safety, nourishment, clothing, shelter, education, health care, and opportunities to fulfill their dreams. Sounds a lot like the inalienable rights of the Declaration of Independence doesn’t it:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among those rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
These are not optional, and they aren’t based on someone “earning” these rights. By virtue of their humanity, everyone should have them. As a Liberal, I believe it is the duty of our society (through our government) to make sure that ALL the members have the opportunity to those rights. For those who are less fortunate, the government should intervene to help them. By the way, isn’t that what government is supposed to do; those who don’t need government help are going to get along anyway. A government that serves those who don’t need help, sounds like the Russian kleptocracy of Vladimir Putin (and a good reason not to find ways to cooperate with Russia.)
Liberalism sounds a lot like the Constitution too, doesn’t it?
We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Liberalism is a founding principal of the United States, imbedded in the words and faith of the founding fathers. As a Liberal I believe it is the destiny of the United States to fulfill the dreams of our founders by raising-up all of our society. We are not only the “city on the hill” example of the Bible and Ronald Reagan, but the “golden door” of Emma Lazarus. We are on a mission: to act as an example to the world, to help the world attain these same goals, and to welcome immigrants through the “golden door” and into our democracy.
Liberalism is the opposite of selfishness. And it is also the opposite of Communism, where the ultimate authority is the state. Liberals see the state as guaranteeing people attain their basic human rights, and enabling them to pursue their dreams. The state is not the ultimate authority (the people are) but it is the ultimate tool for individuals to reach their goals.
And finally, it is government’s job to intervene to fix societal problems. School shootings, inner city violence, rural hunger, global warming: all of these problems can and should be addressed by the government.
That’s what Liberalism is about. It shouldn’t be any surprise then, that Liberals “take a side” on the ongoing political issues of today.
We believe there is global warming, that humans are impacting on it, and that humans need to fix it.
We believe that our society of “gun culture” has created a dangerous environment, one that cannot be solved by adding MORE guns. We need to reach solutions that take military style weapons out of the hands of civilians, and we need to address the problems that cause gun use in the inner city.
We believe that education needs to be accessible (not just available) to every child. We believe that education is a path towards “…the pursuit of happiness” of the Declaration. People cannot “pursue happiness” if the cost of education puts them deeply in debt, therefore we need to find a way to pay for it. The returns on that investment would ultimately exceed the costs.
We believe that health care should not be an option, but a right. Our government should guarantee that health care is based on need, not ability to pay.
We believe that regardless of how people got to America, now they are here we have an obligation to their basic rights. This does not mean that we become a nation of open borders, but that we recognize that the United States is complicit in the reasons for illegal immigration and needs to take responsibility for the outcomes.
And finally, we believe that every American should be able to “pursue happiness” in their own way. Our nation should not be in the business of determining gender or identity. That is for individuals to determine.
When I wrote the introduction to “Trump World” over a year ago I said the following:
In this age of “identification”, you can put my ideology in the Liberal column (I hate the new-speak “Progressive”) and politically in the Democratic party. Now you’ve got me categorized, it might be time to “turn me off”. That’s what we do in this new political world: “turn off” any ideas that might conflict with our own: ideas that might pierce our little bubble. (Astronomy and the Trump Administration )
That’s our political world today. But another reason for writing “Trump World” was to try to reach across the ideological barriers, and find common ground. By defining what I believe, I hope that those who see the term “liberal” as an insult can find common cause in liberal values.
I have wondered for some time why so many think the term “Liberal” is an insult. Well written, and put me in that column.
Comment emailed from DAB – I am a Conservative
I am a conservative.
I recently got embroiled in a discussion about guns. One of the participants wasn’t interested in the “pros and cons.” His goal: insult anyone who disagreed with his position. That’s the definition of a jerk.
He called me a lot of names, but he seemed to think that the ultimate insult was “conservative.” I think I surprised him when I agreed – I am a conservative.
I am a Conservative. What does that mean?
A conservative believes that the greatness of America lies in our expanse of our personal freedoms, our commitment to a free enterprise system, and our constitutional democracy where every person has an opportunity to achieve their dreams.
It is the role of our society such as neighbors, charities, and religious institutions, but not our government, to help those who do not, or cannot help themselves. We need to raise-up everyone in our society, and those that are more fortunate need to help those that are less fortunate.
Conservatives believe that there are basic human rights for EVERY human, regardless of race, creed, color, religion, political philosophy, sexual identity, national status or other ways we can find to divide each other. This includes such rights as freedom of speech and freedom of opportunity, etc. Conservatives do not find in our Constitution any “right” to be fed, clothed, housed, or otherwise cared for by the government.
Conservatives believe government exists to protect our rights, to level the playing field when free enterprise gets out of balance such as by formation of monopolies. In short, we believe government should be involved only in dealing with matters that the free enterprise system cannot handle.
Sounds a lot like the inalienable rights of the Declaration of Independence doesn’t it:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women and those with adjusted sexuality) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among those rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
These are not optional, and they aren’t based on someone “earning” these rights. By virtue of their humanity, everyone has them. As a conservative, I believe it is the duty of our government to protect those rights.
For those who are less fortunate, society, but not the government, may wish to help them.
Conservatives don’t talk about “government help” any more than we talk about umpires “helping” a baseball player get to first base.
Conservatism sounds a lot like the Constitution too, doesn’t it?
We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Conservatism is a founding principal of the United States, imbedded in the words and faith of the founding fathers. As a Conservative I believe it is the destiny of the United States to fulfill the dreams of our founders by safeguarding opportunities for all individuals to achieve their dreams.
Our country was founded mainly to stop the (British) government from “taking our stuff” (via excessive taxes). It was NOT founded to get any government, British or our own, to “give us stuff”.
We are not only the “city on the hill” example of the Bible and Ronald Reagan, but the “golden door” of Emma Lazarus. We are on a mission: to act as an example to the world, to help the world attain these same goals, including welcoming more immigrants through our “golden door” and into our democracy, since we are all immigrants.
Conservatism is the opposite of selfishness. And it is also the opposite of Communism, where the ultimate authority is the state. Conservatives see the state as protecting peoples’ basic human rights and opportunity to pursue their dreams. The state is not the ultimate authority (the people are) but it is the ultimate safeguard for individuals’ opportunity to reach their goals.
It is government’s job to intervene to help solve only those societal problems that the private sector alone cannot solve.
School shootings, inner city violence, emergencies such as fires and floods, global warming: all of these problems can and should be addressed by the government.
That’s what Conservatism is about. It shouldn’t be any surprise then, that Conservatives “take a side” on the ongoing political issues of today.
We believe there is global warming, that humans are impacting on it, and that humans need to fix it, because this issue is too big and complex for the private sector, and since the private sector may be conflicted based on a profit motive.
We believe that our society of “gun culture” has created a dangerous environment, one that is unlikely to be solved by adding MORE guns. We believe in the Constitution’s second amendment (the Whole second amendment including the words “well regulated”). We believe the best way to safeguard the second amendment rights of law abiding citizens is to take actions to keep guns away from those who show an inability to use guns safely and properly, and to properly distinguish between guns used for personal protection or sport and weapons that should be reserved for military use.
We believe that basic education needs to be accessible (not just available) to every child. We believe that basic education can enable “…the pursuit of happiness” of the Declaration.
We believe that “higher” education designed to learn a particular trade is properly assigned to the private sector. (I believe our country is overdue to complete a ground up evaluation to define what sort of basic education we should provide, what do all students need to learn etc).
We believe that in light of modern technology, our system of health care and health insurance has problems that warrant government involvement in finding and supporting a solution that gives all our citizens access to basic health care.
But let’s not confuse “rights” such as freedom of speech with solving a private sector problem of providing health care. Health care is not a “right” in that it has a cost for which from time to time funds may or may not be available.
With regard to immigration, we believe America needs to protect its borders, maintain an orderly method to accept immigrants, and treat humanely those who were brought here as minors and have since become contributing members of our society.
And finally, we believe that every American should be able to “pursue happiness” in their own way. Our government need not be involved in regulating what people do with their own bodies, since individuals and their religious institutions can handle those things.
Conservatives are often constued as supporting Republican Party principles. This is untrue. Conservatism is based on a set of principles. We recognize that all political parties are biased, and routinely sacrifice principles to win elections.
By defining what I believe, I hope that those who see the term “conservative” as an insult can find common cause in conservative values.
Great perspectives from both.
And that’s why I am an Independent.
My basic belief is that the job of the government is oversight of abuse, be it economic, social, or natural resource.
So I don’t see “independent” as an ideological view, but a political one. As a Liberal I generally align with the Democratic Party, but, for example, I don’t see true conservatives as being aligned with Trump Republicans. I think independents can still have a liberal or conservative view. I wonder: would you consider inequity due to economic policy and abuse?