"Ain't No Liberal"
22 January, 2004
Have you ever heard Rush Limbaugh or some other pundit call someone a "liberal"--as if that label were an insult? Do you think that the political spectrum ranges from right-wing conservatives to left-wing "liberals"?
If you feel that someone who is not conservative must be "liberal"--be prepared for a shock.
What, then is a liberal? Classical liberalism is based on the following principles:
These republican principals sparked the European enlightenment, and form the foundation of the United States Constitution. These ideas were radical three hundred years ago, when most of our ancestors lived as serfs to monarchs with absolute power. Over time these liberal ideas became widely accepted, until they are now politically conservative values.
Why then, do some conservative commentators choose to compliment radical leftists by calling them "liberals"? Most left-wing extremists probably don't mind being called "liberal", since the word still carries the connotation of many virtuous non-political traits, such as tolerance, generosity, open-mindedness, and a committment to individual liberty--ideals which many of them do not possess. (See Hyperdictionary definition of "liberal".)
Few of these socialist politicians want to be called "radical". They much prefer the term "progressive". The only liberal policy that most of them espouse is "liberal" distribution of tax revenue. Their hero is not Abraham Lincoln, the emancipator--but Robin Hood, the thief.
Happily, not all people have fallen into this mental trap. While I vehemently disagree with both his ends and means, the Unabomber hardly ever used the term "liberal" in his manifesto, preferring the term "leftist", instead. Ayn Rand, a defender of capitalism, did not so label her antagonists. She called them "second-handers", "looters", and "statists".
What is my point? Let's stop complimenting leftist radicals by calling them "liberal". The political meaning of liberalism abandoned them long ago, and the social meaning of the word is undeserved my most of these left-wing totalitarians.
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