{"id":751,"date":"2018-03-30T07:30:26","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T11:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=751"},"modified":"2018-03-30T07:30:26","modified_gmt":"2018-03-30T11:30:26","slug":"i-am-a-liberal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/","title":{"rendered":"I am a Liberal"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am a Liberal<\/p>\n

I recently got embroiled in a Facebook discussion about guns. One of the participants wasn\u2019t interested in the \u201cpros and cons.\u201d His goal: insult anyone who disagreed with his position. That\u2019s the definition of a \u201ctroll,\u201d and even those who disagreed with my positions called him out for it.<\/p>\n

He called me a lot of names, but he seemed to think that the ultimate insult was \u201cliberal.\u201d I think I surprised him when I agreed \u2013 I am a Liberal.<\/p>\n

I am a Liberal. What does that mean?<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t it:<\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n

These are not optional, and they aren\u2019t based on someone \u201cearning\u201d 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\u2019t that what government is supposed to do; those who don\u2019t need government help are going to get along anyway. A government that serves those who don\u2019t need help, sounds like the Russian kleptocracy of Vladimir Putin (and a good reason not to find ways to cooperate with Russia.)<\/p>\n

Liberalism sounds a lot like the Constitution too, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

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<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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 \u201ccity on the hill\u201d example of the Bible and Ronald Reagan, but the \u201cgolden door\u201d 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 \u201cgolden door\u201d and into our democracy.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

And finally, it is government\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Liberalism is about. It shouldn\u2019t be any surprise then, that Liberals \u201ctake a side\u201d on the ongoing political issues of today.<\/p>\n

We believe there is global warming, that humans are impacting on it, and that humans need to fix it.<\/p>\n

We believe that our society of \u201cgun culture\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

We believe that education needs to be accessible (not just available) to every child. We believe that education is a path towards \u201c\u2026the pursuit of happiness\u201d of the Declaration. People cannot \u201cpursue happiness\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

And finally, we believe that every American should be able to \u201cpursue happiness\u201d in their own way. Our nation should not be in the business of determining gender or identity. That is for individuals to determine.<\/p>\n

When I wrote the introduction to \u201cTrump World\u201d over a year ago I said the following:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>In this age of \u201cidentification\u201d, you can put my ideology in the Liberal column (I hate the new-speak \u201cProgressive\u201d) and politically in the Democratic party. Now you\u2019ve got me categorized, it might be time to \u201cturn me off\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 That’s what we do in this new political world: \u201cturn off\u201d any ideas that might conflict with our own: ideas that might pierce our little bubble. (<\/em>Astronomy and the Trump Administration<\/em><\/a> )<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>That\u2019s our political world today. But another reason for writing \u201cTrump World\u201d 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 \u201cliberal\u201d as an insult can find common cause in liberal values.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am a Liberal I recently got embroiled in a Facebook discussion about guns. One of the participants wasn\u2019t interested in the \u201cpros and cons.\u201d His goal: insult anyone who disagreed with his position. That\u2019s the definition of a \u201ctroll,\u201d and even those who disagreed with my positions called him out for it. He called … Continue reading “I am a Liberal”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nI am a Liberal : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I am a Liberal : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am a Liberal I recently got embroiled in a Facebook discussion about guns. One of the participants wasn\u2019t interested in the \u201cpros and cons.\u201d His goal: insult anyone who disagreed with his position. That\u2019s the definition of a \u201ctroll,\u201d and even those who disagreed with my positions called him out for it. He called … Continue reading "I am a Liberal"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-30T11:30:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/30\\\/i-am-a-liberal\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/30\\\/i-am-a-liberal\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"headline\":\"I am a Liberal\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-30T11:30:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/30\\\/i-am-a-liberal\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1034,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/30\\\/i-am-a-liberal\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/30\\\/i-am-a-liberal\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/30\\\/i-am-a-liberal\\\/\",\"name\":\"I am a Liberal : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-30T11:30:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/30\\\/i-am-a-liberal\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/30\\\/i-am-a-liberal\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/30\\\/i-am-a-liberal\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I am a Liberal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration\",\"description\":\"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\",\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"width\":480,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Marty Dahlman\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\"},\"description\":\"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dahlman.online\",\"https:\\\/\\\/m.facebook.com\\\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/martydahlman\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I am a Liberal : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I am a Liberal : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","og_description":"I am a Liberal I recently got embroiled in a Facebook discussion about guns. One of the participants wasn\u2019t interested in the \u201cpros and cons.\u201d His goal: insult anyone who disagreed with his position. That\u2019s the definition of a \u201ctroll,\u201d and even those who disagreed with my positions called him out for it. He called … Continue reading \"I am a Liberal\"","og_url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/","og_site_name":"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_author":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_published_time":"2018-03-30T11:30:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marty Dahlman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@martydahlman","twitter_site":"@martydahlman","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marty Dahlman","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/"},"author":{"name":"Marty Dahlman","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"headline":"I am a Liberal","datePublished":"2018-03-30T11:30:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/"},"wordCount":1034,"commentCount":4,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/","name":"I am a Liberal : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-03-30T11:30:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2018\/03\/30\/i-am-a-liberal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I am a Liberal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/","name":"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration","description":"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c","name":"Marty Dahlman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","width":480,"height":640,"caption":"Marty Dahlman"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1"},"description":"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dahlman.online","https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","https:\/\/x.com\/martydahlman"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":752,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751\/revisions\/752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}