Looky here ... there's still a liberal out there ...

[welshTerrier2]

here, presented clearly and unemotionally, is what the Democratic Party should be saying to the American people ... it's not left wing or right wing or any wing ... it's just good old common sense ... compare and contrast this essay with some in the party who seem obsessed with pushing the "macho on defense" meme ...

Burnett, the author, is not calling for isolationism ... he doesn't get all tangled up (like i always do) with buzzwords like the "military-industrial complex" ... he's calling for an end to US unilateralism ... he's calling for us to put an end to our role as arm's merchants to the world ... he's calling for an understanding that we can't keep massive arsenals of nukes and then criticize other countries for pursuing them ... he's calling for a recognition that "free markets" do not dispense justice and cannot remedy social inequities without government oversight ...

i'd be very interested to hear from DU'ers of varying persuasions about whether this sounds like good old common sense to you ...

source: http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bob_burn_060815_a_new_liberal_foreig.htm

Unlike conservatives, liberals willingly acknowledge that there are issues facing the world that must be solved by cooperation between nations and creation of international laws and institutions. Liberals don't believe the U.S. can achieve world peace solely through military might. They take diplomacy seriously.

The new liberal ideology sees the United States and other nations cooperating to solve the common problems facing humankind: global climate change, poverty, terrorism, and WMDs, among others. Liberals understand that this means empowering the United Nations and other international organizations. It also suggests that the U.S. has to acquire some humility; acknowledge that it cannot go it alone. Americans have to quit acting like the do-good bullies of the world. <skip>

Liberalism supports multilateral efforts to deal with issues such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the arms trade, in general. Liberals argue that the U.S. cannot simultaneously push for a reduction of global arms trafficking and continue to be the world's largest weapons trader. The U.S. must reduce its weapons production as part of a worldwide disarmament initiative.

The new liberal ideology acknowledges the obvious: the interests of Israel are not synonymous with the interests of the United States. The U.S. will remain an ally of Israel, and defend it's right to exist, but this is not equivalent to giving the government of Israel carte blanche. <skip>

Civil society is the glue that holds democratic societies together. Liberals do not share the confidence of conservatives that "the market" enables civil society; they believe that government must be held responsible for ensuring human rights.

The new liberal ideology understands that democracy and capitalism are not synonymous. Many liberals believe that "level playing field" capitalism is the best economic system, but they understand that other economic forms-such as social democracy-may be acceptable as an emerging nation begins to build democratic institutions. The consequence of this pragmatism is that liberalism knows that critical social and economic problems cannot be left to the whims of the global marketplace. The market doesn't care about many of these, such as poverty. Furthermore, an unfettered market is destructive. Many environmental problems, such as global climate change, result from businesses using the environment as a free resource, ignoring the long-term consequences of actions such as clear-cutting forests or belching noxious chemicals into the atmosphere. The international community must regulate multinational capitalism.

the military will no longer be treated as sacrosanct; efforts will be redoubled to diminish America's role as a weapons manufacturer; the political power of corporations will be reduced; and environmental and worker-protection laws will be strengthened.

[reichstag911]

1. A liberal?!?

Burn the witch!!!

Seriously, good post...thx.

[OneBlueSky]

2. Bravo! . . . Bravo! . . . Bravo! . . .

at last . . . someone with a BRAIN took the time to sit down, think through the reality of our situation in 2006, and articulate a sensible set of principles to guide U.S. foreign policy from a "liberal" perspective . . .

personally, though, I don't see these principles so much as liberal as I do human . . . these are the kinds of principles that MOST individuals would embrace as foundations for establishing our place in the world . . .

unfortunately, the corporate interests that actually run things don't see it this way . . . under the current regime, profits trump human rights, and everything else . . . this must change . . . and it will . . .

all we have to do is prevent those currently in power from blowing the planet to smithereens before we can get rid of their asses . . .

[Stinky The Clown]

3. "I don't see these principles so much as liberal as I do human . . . "

Isn't that the heart of liberalism? :)

[frebrd]

4. K & R n/m