To be a true Hollywood style production company, we need a radical political stance so that we can both raise publicity and have a profession to enter after we are too fat and old to act or write. With this in mind, welcome to our political "forum", basically a place for Theresnopeace Locke-Hume to rant. Which one of us is he? We know, but you and the government would have to do maybe five minutes of investigative work to find out, so HA! Enjoy my bleeding heart liberal friends.
11/02/02
Liberalism: What is it?
In modern America when one speaks of a liberal, one invokes an image of a hippie sitting in the forest smoking marijuana and ranting about refugees from there or injustice here. The term “bleeding-heart liberal” can be heard often in political arenas when talking about a person who takes the unpopular side of an argument. But who are liberals, where did it come from? What is liberalism?
Liberalism is a political idea that was introduced in the 1600s. It advocated the rights of the individual and that government’s sole test was its ability to function effectively, not based on its religion or traditions. Liberalism can be boiled down into three words: “Life, Liberty, Property.” Early and modern liberals believed that all people are entitled to liberty, equality and property.
The American founding fathers agreed. In the revolutionary literature the founding fathers continually spoke of the equality of man, and that all men deserved the freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Most modern politicians are liberals, if not in name, in belief. Nearly all moderate Republicans, and all Democrats (with the exception of Stephen Lynch, our MA 9th District Representative), are liberals. Modern American liberals are today most well known for their support of the first amendment to the Constitution. The first amendment is a shining example of liberalism in America today. It says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances ”. It guarantees us the rights of free speech, free enterprise, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. It also allows maniacs to say what they will, and think what they will, but they cannot act on these words and thoughts if their actions interfere with the liberty of another. The first amendment is just one example of liberalism in modern America. That we can demand a search warrant before a cop tears up our house for evidence against us, that we have trial by jury, that martial law cannot be imposed at the whim of a executive are all shining examples of liberalism’s triumph in America.
But why has liberalism gotten such a bad rap? To the unbiased bystander, it’s not a bad philosophy; perhaps it’s even a laudable one. The answer lies in two related things. The first was the Cold War. Conservative politicians in the mid to late 20th century spread anti-liberal propaganda under the pretense of being anti-communist. They associated Liberalism with Communism, though they are two very different things. While it is true that in the early 20th century during the Great Depression, FDR used socialist approaches to government and the economy to save the country, liberals (not leftists) did not, and have never, supported communism, not true liberals, because liberals believe in freedom of speech and freedom of worship, two very basic things that Communist countries restrict. Another reason for Liberalism’s bad name is the more recent efforts of conservatives to associate liberalism with being soft on crime, drugs, and the military. These things are fairly well based. Liberals DO believe in second chances for rehabilitated prisoners, they DO believe that filling up our jails with recreational drug users is ludicrous, they DO believe that since the Cold War is over and America’s facing no eminent threats, that it need not continue to spend trillions on defense against nothing. Effectually, conservative politicians have made it unpatriotic to be liberal.
What about this alternative to liberalism, conservatism? Conservatives derive their political philosophy from a man named Hobbes, who said in his masterpiece, Leviathan, that all people are inherently evil, so they must have a strong central power to control them. A great basis for a society, don’t you think? If the failings of Liberalism are issues of crime and military, what are Conservatism’s weaknesses? Conservatives are notoriously weak on education, health care, protection of freedoms, executing mentally ill people, and the environment. In a non-scientific poll conducted for this article --% of people said that health care, education, and the safeguarding of their freedoms were more important than punishing drug users, paying for the military, and punishing criminals, even in this state of national uncertainty about personal safety. That’s liberalism, take it or leave it folks.
-Theresnopeace Locke-Hume
