OpEdNews » Liberalism and America

Tags for This Article:

Populum Tag Cloud Control Panel
	Fine tune your search to access content

Articles	Links
Diaries	Products
Events	All

All time
Last 6 mos
Last month
Last week
Last 24 hrs

From:
Month Day Year

To:
Month Day Year

Alphabet Popularity	Count ON Count OFF
This Level	Sub-levels

Tag(s): Government; Ideology; People; Surveillance; Wiretaps
Add to My Group

March 23, 2008 at 19:32:42

Liberalism and America

by Rabbi Page 1 of 2 page(s)

www.opednews.com

SAVE FAVORITES

VIEW FAVORITES

View Ratings | Rate It

Liberalism and America

People who lean towards the far right are spewing out a number of insults against people who lean towards the left – everything from socialists, enemies of the state, to anti-American, etc.

Liberalism is not a bad word, for had it not been for the more liberal thinkers back in 1776, the United States never would have been born. Had the hard right prevailed, we’d still be British subjects. Our own revolution was based upon the idea of self government which was extremely liberal in its ideology.

Pundits who decry that liberalism is destroying this nation refuse to recognize the destructive perils of a far right government. Today, we now have laws that allow for wiretaps and closer scrutiny of our daily lives under the CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security. Our mail can be opened and read; our telephone conversations are listened into with impunity.

The far right really can not assert that they are trying to protect Americans from outside harm because of 9/11, for we have seen, Timothy McVeigh, an American right winger citizen, preformed a horrible act of terrorism. Perhaps, we are the ones being watched now rather than organizations composed of foreign nationals. I understand that the home grown terrorist bill is very close to being passed in congress and that means “we the people” are the chief suspect in the ambiguously written, and ill defined, crimes against the state.

The Far Right has given the United States signing statements that have usurped our Bill of Rights, and the Constitution which has been declared to be a “goddamn piece of paper” by our administration.

Many of the freedoms we had nine years ago are now fallen victims to a far right winged government.

However, to be fair and balanced, some Americans have become too radical advocating violent over throw of this government and death to minorities. The Southern Poverty Law Center notes that the membership in these far right organizations is growing. Not too long ago there as an attempt to organize an armed million man march on Washington, D.C. – a direct challenge to the US government. Perhaps internal surveillance and proactive measures by the government is appropriate as America becomes more polarized.

Nationalistic Pundits are equating liberalism to either socialism or communism. Both misguided assumptions being wholly, utterly, and completely false.

Communism is a repressive government that controls its citizens very well and freedom of speech, a rather liberal right, is non existent.

Communism and Hitlerism are/were far right, non-liberal, and controlling. Every aspect of a person’s life is/was under a very large microscope. Socialism was non-existent in both types of governments based upon the far right ideological minority rule.

To be fair and balanced both communism and Nazi Germany claimed to be socialist. Does these mean that North Korea, which calls itself the Democratic People’s Republic, are really good guys? They state they are democratic and isn’t that what our government wants to spread around the world? Ah, we play the semantics game again. .

To achieve balance, there must be equally voiced opposing party’s to prevent tyranny from creeping into a nation’s life blood. If we tip to either extreme, we are ruined forever.

Our nation has successfully invoked liberalism throughout our history – the freeing of our slaves is probably the most evident of these truths. WPA during the great depression gave people jobs, income, and helped make the United States a better place to be is another example. We have social security and public education. We have unemployment insurance.

The revolutions in Russia, Korea, Viet Nam, and Cuba were brought about by the will of the people to over throw one government on the promises of a better life and in reality brought much harsher and very radically conservative governments about in their approach to national issues. Anyone who criticized the government was labeled counter revolutionary and shot.

The rise of Adolph Hitler was through the democratic process and with it came a very conservatively intense nationalistic dream. Anyone who disagreed was labeled an enemy of the state and the application of the Nuremberg Laws proved that, as well as a one way trip to Dauchau.

1 | 2

I have a degree in theology and a Masters in Holocaust History.

	Contact Author
	Contact Editor
	View Other Articles by Author

Bookmark this page: (what's this?)

(More...)

5 comments

Just an ordinary nobody who's glad he took typing in 9th grade.
Alan WilliamsJust an ordinary nobody who's glad he took typing in 9th grade.

Disconnect

There's really no connecting today's "right wing" (conservatism) with historically referred to right wing controlling ideologies, any more than today's "left wing" resembles traditional liberalism. Today's left scrambles to control what people say, where they can say it, and how they can say it. They try to control what we can drive, smoke, eat and drink. They control our light bulbs, toilets and most ominously the size of our "carbon footprint", which in light of how much energy use hinges on our freedom to go where we want and do what we want, should be called our "freedom footprint". Contrarily, today's conservative advocates for more speech not less, and more freedom of choice in almost every aspect of life except for the premature taking of it.

It's almost as if the roles have reversed. You really have to be careful when someone tries to sell you a "liberal" (more likely it will be called "progressive") bill of goods.

by Alan Williams (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 639 comments) on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 1:22:41 AM

I am a resident of Chatham County NC, near Chapel Hill. I make a living as a technical consultant on various engineering projects (programming, data acquisition, electrical and electronic issues, some mechanical). I am a Green, and the co-chair of the Triangle Green Party, which is a local chapter of the North Carolina Green Party, which is in turn nationally affiliated with GPUS.
Wayne TurnerI am a resident of Chatham County NC, near Chapel Hill. I make a living as a technical consultant on various engineering projects (programming, data acquisition, electrical and electronic issues, some mechanical). I am a Green, and the co-chair of the Triangle Green Party, which is a local chapter of the North Carolina Green Party, which is in turn nationally affiliated with GPUS.

ideas if of liberalism and conservatism are behind the times

Alan,

You are getting your ideas of liberalism from people recycling the 1960s and your ideas of conservatism from people reinventying the 1950s. Most progressives wouldn't care what you did with your life, except that today people are making choices that are damaging to the lives of others. We have to live here too.

As for conservatism, its current practice, the police-state mentality, the outright theft of the resources and the blatant disregard for anything but profit, have little to do with the historical definition of conservatism, or even anything to do with the word 'conservative' itself.

I am a Green, and I submit that I am more conservative than you are. I do not waste everything around me as if there were no tomorrow. I think we do not need a strong central government. Decentralization of power leaves local economies and local governments free to enact solitions to local problems with flexibility and innovation. At the same time, that doesn't mean we shouldn't have federal standards for food and product safety, or permit greedy people to degrade the quality of our lives for their personal profit.

For an outstanding example of the effect of deregulation and the stupidity of the current definition of that darling of "conservatives" and "neo-liberals"", the "free market", take a good look at the current mortgage and securities crisis. Because of deregulation and bailouts, the Amercian taxpayer will now assure the futire of wealthy, unscrupulous people who could care less whether the United States survives in anything other than name. They claim the label "conservative" Are they? Are these the people you want associate yourself with?

If they are, then you are no more a conservative than George Bush is a president, which is to say, not at all.

Wayne Turner

by Wayne Turner (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 41 comments) on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 7:56:19 AM

About the author: welshTerrier2 believes all citizens must focus on restoring power to the people. Corporations control our agenda. They promote war. They export our jobs to the lowest bidder. They pollute our air and water. They promote laws to benefit their greedy shareholders at our expense. They control the puppet politicians through their campaign contributions. They control the mainstream media.

The dual disasters of global warming and a bankrupt national Treasury demand rap...

to see more of bio, click on member name
welshTerrier2About the author: welshTerrier2 believes all citizens must focus on restoring power to the people. Corporations control our agenda. They promote war. They export our jobs to the lowest bidder. They pollute our air and water. They promote laws to benefit their greedy shareholders at our expense. They control the puppet politicians through their campaign contributions. They control the mainstream media.

The dual disasters of global warming and a bankrupt national Treasury demand rap...

to see more of bio, click on member name

questions about decentralized governance

Wayne, I liked your response but I have a few of questions for you about your focus on decentralized government. I've heard many advocate for local governance because it brings government closer to the people and empowers them. The theme sounds great in theory; i'm not as sure about how it would work in practice.

Let's take a few examples. First, one state bans handguns only to find that a neighboring state leads the nation in handgun sales and has almost no restriction on who can buy one. Where's the empowerment in that?

One state chooses to impose a sales tax to help raise revenues for the public schools and the neighboring state has no sales tax. The result? All the stores near the state border go out of business because they can't compete. How does local governance solve that problem?

Of course, these are just local considerations. The real problems come with national and international policies. Let's take global warming as an example. Let's say a certain oil producing state chooses not to encourage its citizens to conserve. Should the national government be able to impose certain environmental restrictions on all states or should that be a local decision?

One of the major causes of most of the problems we face is the out of control spending on the US military. I see this problem as national, not local. How do we stop our government from building an empire? What does this have to do with local governance?

And finally, I suppose one could make an argument to let local cities and towns (and their residents) pay less to the federal government via taxes and retain more money under local control. National priorities aside, for example national defense or the FDA and so on, one might argue that this empowers citizens. Again, though, this simultaneously seems to be contrary to the idea of "transfer payments" that, given a "good" national government, could allow revenues from wealthy areas to be used in poorer areas. Once local areas are allowed to retain greater control over tax revenues from their residents, it seems we're building a version of gated communities where those on the wrong side of the tracks could be unable to fund their schools or protect their drinking water or police their neighborhoods. Again, how is that empowering?

I raise these issues not so much because I disagree with local governance but because I truly don't understand how it would work. Any light you could shed on this issue would be very much appreciated.

by welshTerrier2 (7 articles, 3 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 105 comments) on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 10:42:32 AM

Martin Zehr is an American political writer in the San Francisco area. He spent 8 years working as a volunteer water planner for the Middle Rio Grande region. http://www.waterassembly.org
His article on the Kirkuk Referendum has been printed by the Kurdish Regional Government, http://www.moera-krg.org/articles/detail.asp?smap=01030000&lngnr=12&anr=12121&rnr=140 Another article was reprinted in its entirety by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) http://www.puk.org/web/htm/news/nws/news0...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Martin ZehrMartin Zehr is an American political writer in the San Francisco area. He spent 8 years working as a volunteer water planner for the Middle Rio Grande region. http://www.waterassembly.org
His article on the Kirkuk Referendum has been printed by the Kurdish Regional Government, http://www.moera-krg.org/articles/detail.asp?smap=01030000&lngnr=12&anr=12121&rnr=140 Another article was reprinted in its entirety by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) http://www.puk.org/web/htm/news/nws/news0...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Moving Beyond Liberalism and Radicalism

From the 2 prior responses there is a demonstrated critique of liberalism in the current political environment. As a Green I have worked to develop an engaged political agenda and strategy that does not simply discount the American people as reactionary or right-wing. There are plenty of former Republicans, as well as Democrats and Independents in the Green Party. We are seeking to define a distinct agenda that goes beyond the debate between liberals and conservatives.

As a bioregionalist, I am working to establish forms of local governance and resource management entities that are composed of stakeholders in the localities that are impacted by decisions but who have been marginalized in the past by contributors, real estate interests and home builders. One such resource, water, has long been a subject of political management by such corporate interests. As a political party, the Green Party works to bring the engagement of a broader cross-section of people in the decisions that have profound impact on their futures. Our candidates represent the means of influencing policy and implementing change. We seek to marginalize the narrow sector of the economy that has a disproportionate political influence today. There are many more friends out there then liberals or radicals have ever reached out to.

by Martin Zehr (38 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 77 comments) on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 10:52:45 AM

I'm a 29 year old male.
TyI'm a 29 year old male.

Decentralized Government

Government can only be decentralized through Direct Democracy and by giving people strict control over all elected officials and government agencies. Decentralized government is government by the masses whereas centralized government is government by the few over the many. Centralized government is basically any type of oligarchy.

by Ty (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 809 comments) on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 3:18:01 PM