Defining Liberalism

Ugh. I cannot believe how tired I am of the presidential election already. Miss Tessmacher and I were just bitching about it this morning in fact, about how we still have a seemingly-endless 8 months left until it all goes away. And even THEN things might get stretched out, because the last two elections have been deemed so close that the courts have been required to step in and help sort things out. (Up to and including actually APPOINTING the president, apparently.)

Well, at least I figured I could do something positive with all that pent-up frustration. And, since I don't own "Guitar Hero," and since my drums would definitely wake up The Rozzle, I suppose I need to blog. I've been hearing an awful lot about who stands for what as the election ramps up: people claiming to "be for" a particular party or candidate because of what he or she "stands for," or because the candidate in question "mirrors my beliefs." Okay, that's cool. Keeping in mind that so many people vote according to their beliefs, I wanted to share MY beliefs, and see how many of you agree - or disagree - with me. Here we go.

According to Webster's...

Liberal (in the political sense) is defined variously as 1) "associated with ideals of individual (especially economic) freedom"; 2) "one who is open-minded"; 3) "an advocate of liberalism, especially in individual rights."

I am proud to refer to myself - and to have someone ELSE refer to me - as a liberal. There are some conservatives (defined as "a person who is reluctant to accept changes and new ideas") who are trying to turn "liberal" into a pejorative term, but it just won't stick. See, I believe in economic freedom: the idea that I get to earn and spend my money the way I see fit. I believe that economic freedom is especially important in the regulation of an open-market system...one that we claim to have here in the United States. I do believe I am open-minded: I take my point of view and present it in what I hope is a logical fashion, and then I listen to what others have to say. Participants in this theoretical discussion exchange points of view, respect the opinions of others, and at the end of the day either reach a consensus or agree to disagree...but the topic (whatever it was) has still been discussed openly and fairly, with no point of view being squashed. And finally, I CERTAINLY believe in individual rights! The concept of individual rights is so important in the creation of this country that it's the subject of the lead-off amendment to our Constitution, as well as the beginning of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.

So, to recap: being a liberal means that you are open-minded, and that you believe in economic freedom and individual rights. By a show of hands, then: who DOES NOT WANT to be liberal?!? And if you raised your hand just then...you're a feckless liar. Or, you truly do not want to live in a country that embraces economic freedom and individual rights...which I guess would make you closed-minded by default.

The reason I'm ranting about all of this is because I was subjected to an interview with Mick Huckabee on the NPR this morning, and I'm no longer able to laugh at conservatives' attempts to wrongly categorize liberals. I'm just tired of it. I'm like the kid who has been bullied, and picked on, and beat up, and now I'm pissed and I'm fighting back. Among other incorrect or scandalous statements, The Huckster had this to say (the elipses are not missing segments of the quote, but rather places where Huck put a natural, period-less pause):

...there's a dramatic difference between those who would believe that we need to take MORE money out of workers' paychecks, and those of us who think we oughta take LESS...whether or not we need MORE government interfering in our lives, or if we need LESS government intervention...I think those are two fundamental things that will truly make the big difference in this race this year.

He keeps trying - and failing, thankfully! - to paint the idea-frozen Republican party as the party of "less," and the forward-thinking Democratic party as "more." I said in a previous blog, and I'll keep saying it, dammit: liberals DO NOT want to take "more" money out of "workers' paychecks!" Jesus H. Tap-Dancing Christ, get OFF it, you dipshit! The concept of a "tax-&-spend Democrat" is a perfect example of how outmoded and archaic most conservative thinking is. When Fuckabee (whoopsie, a typo!) claims that his party is the one of "less government intervention," I guess he's forgetting how much the government can "intervene" in the lives of private citizens (in the name of Domestic Security), or how the government "intervened" in Iraq (in the name of Spreading Democracy, supposedly). The conservatives would LOVE to have a nice, big fat government full of laws about what you CAN and CANNOT do: you CANNOT have an abortion, you CAN have the 10 Commandments on your courthouse lawn, you CANNOT have inexpensive quality healthcare, you CAN have a huge population of poor people.

On the contrary, liberals actually want LESS government intervention. The whole abortion thing really defines that divide, don't you think?

• Liberal: We should work to diminish the number of abortions through education, but acknowledge that it is a safe medical procedure and ultimately is up to the woman to decide about her own body. If you don't want one, don't have one.
• Conservative: We need laws to forbid abortions, and a huge bureaucracy in place to arrest, convict, and imprison those who violate those laws. The government replaces the will of the people.

See? Conservatives = more government intervention, fewer freedoms. It's that simple.

I want to live in a country populated by free thinkers. I want people to talk openly and respectfully about the issues that are important to them. But most of all, I want to be free to live my own life without having someone else's views about it forced upon me. If you want those things too...you're a liberal. Welcome to the party.