When the hell did liberal become an anathema to the American language in the same manner that we consider certain four letter words to be inappropriate in polite company? Even in every day speech it will likely get you far less grief to say how much you would love to "take a shit on those goddamn motherfuckers" working the drive through than to align yourself as politically liberal in public. With the venom you hear it muttered in conservative media or evaded in more centrist venues you would expect it to get bleeped by now. Fuck and shit the bitches all you would like, but don't you dare confess that you're one of those l!%#*@!$
I'll confess that I've done the same thing from time to time under the guise of tact. Moderate sounds far less inflammatory and leaves some room to question. I'm even willing to go as far as to say that I am not so much a liberal but a political pragmatist, but it doesn't change my views of where most of my views lie on the scale of conservative/progressive scale...
Ooops, pardon that word. I have a tendency to use foul language from time to time. If you're going to call yourself a progressive you might as well pack up your bags and get out the old hammer and sickle.
Of course if we really look at the hardliners such as the Tea Party, Libertarians and the Religious Right of today, conservative hero Ronald Reagan is looking mighty liberal given his spending tendencies and his illegal alien amnesty policy.
Humor aside, there has been a huge shift over time in political leanings. With 9-11 we had a return to the kind of fear tactics that had Americans ducking under desks as McCarthy rounded up those horrid commies that could either be dissenters or the harbingers of nuclear winter. We're approaching the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union and somehow we have re-anchored our beliefs so that liberal=progressive=left=socialist=communist. It's non-sequitur logic that brings all of these terms onto equal footing with no thinking of what any of these terms mean. Sure it sounds great to say liberals are socialist commies; but then how do you differentiate successive socialist countries such as Finland or Denmark with the corrupt reign of terror that marks most of Soviet history.
When liberalism and progressivism get marked in such a manner it makes for a great sound bite by a commentator on Fox News, but like soda pop has no substance beyond its label. As a nation we have dismissed an entire line of thought without considering the nuances that exist with any political issue. All because the language of such thinking is suddenly shameful and extreme.
It's time to stop backing down in the face of derision and make some points in favor of progressive policies that will improve this nation using facts instead of popular talking points. The internet is one of the greatest tools in freedom of information and we have poorly utilized it in favor of quick reads that have let those at the very top play us all for fools and pit us against one another. Instead of information bringing us access to knowledge, we have preferred to keep up on the latest celebrity happenings and pick up on just enough buzz words to float around in a conversation.
I am a rationalist and a pragmatist and believe that information is key to making points known and to argue for them. However, I AM a liberal and I refuse to treat it like a dirty word.
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