I heard a real "thinker" on an NPR Perspective the other morning while driving to work. The speaker was an Episcopal minister (do I have the right descriptor?) and a self-proclaimed liberal. He went on to say how the vocal agenda of the Christian far right would prove to be a boon to liberal causes in the long run. He spoke of this country's "sane liberal center". (Don't even get me started on the oxymoronic qualities in there...) To describe how the Christian far right was opposed to this "sane liberal center", he brought forth issues like: -racism, as capsularized in the Affirmative Action crisis. -disregard for civil rights, as in the abortion issue. There were others which i can't recall.
Bottom line - when he listed these right-wing aberrations, I found myself disliking each one. Does that make me a liberal?
No.
It places me near the sane center perhaps. I despise racism. I think Affirmative Action is racist however. I think fighting a histiry of racism with a policy of reversed but still discriminatory policy is a Bad Idea.
I'm a choicer, and as such a minority in these parts. While the idea of abortion is unpleasant to me, the idea of being told it's not an option is bad in a different way.
I am no homophobe. "Some of my best friends are queers." I think the current Republican push to ostracize folks of unauthorized sexual orientation is bigotry in action. Doesn't mean I want to rush out and share the gay experience myself.
I'm all for the "sane liberal center" when it comes to issues of personal dignity and freedom; civil rights in the most inclusive sense. Where I part company with the liberal idea is in matters of "selective" support of civil rights. For me, that's symbolized by the gun ownership issue. I have extensively treated of that earlier, so I won't belabor the point.
My biggest fear of liberalism has to do with two core assumptions that have come in from the left-wing stalwarts. Great Society type ideas. The first is the ancient Communist non sequitur that if you give folks what they need, they'll limit their take to their own fair share. Once you install an entitlement program, the fix is in. Look at our prisons. On the one hand, rehabilitation of convicts is an expressed goal. On the other hand, what really happens in prisons is more likely to dehumanize and harden a convict than to instill a sense of personal and social worth. (I don't know how to fix this.)
The second is the idea that we can buy our way out of poverty. Robin Hood writ large. The simplest way to do this is with a comprehensive dole. I contend that 1) such a dole is a self-perpetuating hydra and 2) it would bankrupt the richest nation in history, leaving us in a losing position. This is my opinion, of course.
So I'll assemble my political affiliations a la carte. I'm as liberal as they come re issues of tolerance and individual rights. On social spending, though, the liberals have lost me - at least until they can turn a net profit. Dollars spent on social programs are ffset by value built into our GDP. That's a tough sell. I see a cruel but basic symmetry in the idea of allowing the unfit and the undermotivated to experience hardship. That way there's an incentive toward self-improvement which is washed away if there's a dole.
So somebody tell me - am I liberal or conservative? |
