Liberal

[progressoid]

[CrispyQ]

1. Outstanding!

Why does our party shy away from this word? I asked myself that question a few years back & when I Googled "When did liberal become a dirty word?" this DU article was #1. This is how I found DU.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/02/11/23_liberal.html

Ever since the dems backed away from the word liberal, instead of defending it, they have let the repubs frame everything - EVERYTHING!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. I think it is mostly due to how liberalism has been used in a political context, and

as a political ideology. As a political ideology, liberals tend to favor more government intervention to protect individual freedoms. We tend to believe in the social welfare state, precisely because we are "giving and generous" in temperament.

Liberalism became a bad word because we allowed conservatives to paint themselves as morally upright. They successfully demonize liberals, characterizing them as "1960s hippies." They began to paint us as promiscuous, care free, and too obsessed with promoting fairness. We lack intelligence and have the inability to think rationally. We are too "antiwar" and that makes us weak and irrational. I could go on and on.

But it is US who should accept some of the blame for allowing the other side to paint us in this light. Conservatives, in general, are viewed as thoughtful and upright, reasonable and pragmatic. More Americans think it's acceptable for one to embrace conservatism. If I were to say that I'm a liberal, even to many Democrats, almost immediately, there would be a visceral reaction.

[Howzit]

2. And you are reminding us of the meaning because so many Liberals allow you any view point

providing it does not differ from theirs?

Is this a commentary on intollerance?

[progressoid]

4. Nope. I just stumbled across it.

Actually, I was more attracted to Webster's choice of antonyms.

[pinboy3niner]

5. A Liberal Definition by John F. Kennedy:

Acceptance Speech of the New York
Liberal Party Nomination

September 14, 1960

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

...


http://www.liberalparty.org/JFKLPAcceptance.html

[progressoid]

6. +1