Proud Liberals
James Moore wrote this fabulous article about being a proud left-wing liberal. I do not agree with every single point he made, but I loved what he had to say.
We have really internalized the smear nonsense that the right-wing radicals have engaged in for the past 40 years. The right wing spin machine has really done a number on us and have changed the word liberal to mean something very negative. It is hard to combat the image of left-wing, crazy, anti-everything, commie-pinko, hate America first liberals who are giving aid and comfort to terrorists and are selling out their own country, over and over again effectively all of the time. And a lot of that nonsense has creeped into the consciousness of many progressive, liberal, democrats. We are so afraid of being called liberal, that we run from the term and play into the impression that liberals have nothing good to offer America. We have even taken to parsing our words and deliniating the difference between liberals and progressives; or liberals and democrats. I saw an article on tpmcafe.com in which a writer said that the difference between liberals and progressives is that liberals 'think they know what is best for others and progressives believe that people can be trusted to decide for themselves.' And this was a progressive writer.
This simply is not true. Granted, the words are not exactly the same, but they are very closely related. According to wordsmyth.net, here are the definitions of liberal and progressive:
Liberal: 1.freely giving; generous.
2.respectful of individual differences; tolerant.
3.relating to democratic forms of government rather than monarchies or aristocracies.
4.one who favors progressive political philosophy, including government promotion of social change and the primacy of individual liberty.
Progressive: 1.moving steadily forward or onward; advancing.
2.proceeding in regular or ordered steps.
3.favoring social or political progress or reform; liberal.
4.a person who supports political or social progress or reform.
I see nothing in those definitions that indicates that liberals do not believe the citizens cannot be trusted to decide for themselves. In fact, just the opposite is true. Liberals believe in democracies, not autocracies, in progress not stagnation, in advancement not retreat, in individual liberty not autocratic tyranny. These are the goals and values our country was founded on and if they were good enough to Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, well they're good enough for me.
I am tired of being derided because I want to hold my government to the highest standards of our ideals and values. Liberals have nothing to be ashamed of. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Liberal values are American values. We are good people and we want our country to rise up to its fullest potential of liberty for all of its citizens regardless of race, religion, economic status, sexual orientation, gender or any other characteristic that is used by the extremist neocons to divide people.
I am tired of the neocon hate-mongers tyring to paint my values, the values of Jefferson and Washington, as somehow bad for America.
posted by liberalprogressive @ 10:33 AM
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