Am I really a liberal?
by
Clyde
7:56 AM
Why do we need to define our political views in such narrowly defined terms? Personally, I believe it comes from the media. Think about it, before the advent of the radio people would describe themselves as Democrat or Republican. But now it is not enough to just be one or the other, now we have to define our political leanings down to the size of a tick's ass.
I proudly claim myself as a liberal but does that mean that I do not have some views that many would consider to be conservative? I admit, on several issues some may view my stance as conservative.
For example; The death penalty
I believe in it period end of story. I feel that should you murder someone, society has the right to murder you right the fuck back. Now many of those in the opposition to the death penalty will point their finger at me and claim that I am no liberal because of my support.
The military
I believe that this country should have the biggest baddest Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps on the planet. I want my country's military to be able to inflict the maximum amount of damage and with the minimal amount of casualties. Now is that a liberal view of the issue, many would say no.
All too often though, we do not look to the underlying reasoning for someone's view on a particular subject. We either raise up or denounce that person's views because it either supports or deviates from the confines of our definition of the political ideology.
While I believe in the death penalty, I do not believe in its imposition willy nilly. To me, that sentence is to only be used when there is incontrovertible proof of the person's guilt. I would much rather the guilty be set free than the innocent be wrongfully convicted.
And while I believe in a strong military, I do not believe that military to be used offensively. I believe that you only use that military when all other efforts have been completely exhausted. War is the last resort, without exception.
Now does this mean that I am not liberal? Does the fact that I believe that every American has the right to the best healthcare without regard to their social standing mitigate someone else's definition of my political leaning? Does the fact that I believe that the government should provide a much larger safety net for our nation's elderly through higher Social Security benefits blur the lines of someone's preconceived political definition?
Excluding the truly politically fanatical nut cases, most people cannot be defined as being one thing or another. Think about it, how can we allow ourselves to be pigeonholed when in fact we are as diverse in viewpoints as we are as people? Just because someone has blue eyes and blonde hair does not automatically make them of German descent.
Look at how we allow ourselves to be described by others.
For example; Values voters
When you hear that description do you not automatically think of the religious right? The fact of the matter is that all voters are values voters. But because we have been programmed to accept that description as only applicable to the Bible thumpers, the true meaning of the description has been lost.
When one thinks of all the different descriptions of political ideology, how can anyone claim to be of one political philosophy. Look at the terms we use and see:
We have Neo-cons, Liberals, Libertarians, Socialists, Fascists, Communists, Imperialists, Anarchists, Secularists, Dominionists, Corporatists, Capitalists, Isolationists, Blue Dogs, Yellow Dogs, Greens, Social conservatives, Fiscal conservatives, Pro-war, Anti-war, Plutocrats and so on.
After looking at that list, can anyone imagine why we are so divided? Just asking.
Permalink
::
0 comments
::
|
