Liberal And Proud

[poliphilo]

I remember a time when "liberal" wasn't a bad word.

And I've never understood how we got to this present situation where politicians of both left and right use it to smear their opponents.

Here's how my Pocket Oxford Dictionary defines it.

Open-handed, generous, not sparing (of), abundant, (of persons, conduct, provision made etc); open-minded, unprejudiced, free from pedantry; (Pol.) advocating democratic reforms......

So what's not to like? I'm seeing a bowl full of scrumptious rosy apples- and you're telling me they're rotten?

I think there's some sort of mean trick being played on us here.

I'm a liberal. Or try to be- it's a high ideal. And I want to live in a liberal society.

Comments

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I just got my Time magazine, and in "Notebook" there's a quote from Howard Dean, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He asserts that the country has plenty of "silent" Democrats, and says:

"Many of them don't say who they are anymore because the culture has said it's not socially acceptable to be a Democrat."

And the word "Democrat" equals "Liberal" these days in this red-and-blue country.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The whole western world seems to have taken a massive swing to the right. How and why did this happen? What's wrong with us?

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

What is wrong? We became complacent. And the Dominionist Christians used deceptive tactics to claim power. They turned the word 'liberal' into a perjoritave. Now, we're using 'progressive' because it has gotten so bad.

An Arkansas House member, whom I dearly love, was labeled 'liberal Republican' because she thinks for herself and doesn't always toe the party line. She fights with them all the time, poor gal. She tells me all the horrid details, and has convinced me that running for public office is the absolute last thing I'll ever do.

It's pretty sad, really.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I console myself by remembering how these things go in cycles. A period of reform is followed by a period of reaction- which will, in time, be followed by another period of reform.

Dig in and wait for the ice to melt.