I live in a homogenous area in which at some gatherings, I am the
token liberal. (I didn’t know I was a liberal until 2016. But more about that
later.) I’m worried because it seems there is a bogeyman under their bed. Right
now, it’s the Socialism Bogeyman! Yikes!
I honestly don’t know how they sleep at night in their constant
state of fear that the Socialism Bogeyman will get them if a Democrat is
elected to the White House. All their hard work, their earnings, their
accomplishments as good solid capitalists will be taken from them and given to
people WHO DON’T DESERVE IT! The world will end!
I guess, though, they’re used to having a bogeyman under their
beds. The Socialism Bogeyman is joining the Gun Control Bogeyman, the Illegal
Immigrant Bogeyman, the Antifa Bogeyman, the Micro Chip Bogeyman, the COVID
Conspiracy Bogeyman, the Voter Fraud Bogeyman, the 5G Bogeyman, the Mail-In
Ballot Bogeyman, the BLM Starts Riots Bogeyman, the Infringement On My Rights
Bogeyman, the Abolish Police Bogeyman, the Vaccines Cause Autism Bogeyman, the
Tax the Rich Bogeyman, the Invading Army of Illegals Bogeyman, the Science is
Elitism Bogeyman, the Destroying Our History Bogeyman, the Transvestite Cyborg
Bogeyman, the Baby Killer Bogeyman, the Sanctity of Marriage Bogeyman, the FOX
News Bogeyman, and…
How do they sleep with all those monsters under the bed? I guess
they’ve gotten used to it. I guess the Doobie Brothers said it all in 1979:
What a fool believes, he sees
No wise man has the power to reason away
—BFoundAPen
https://medium.com/brian-the-man-behind-the-pen/monsters-arent-just-under-the-bed-3260f5cb4c7d
I found out I was a ‘liberal’ when an old friend accused me of it
back in 2016. We'd been having a fairly sane discussion when he threw up his hands and yelled, "You just can't have a reasonable argument with a liberal!" Up until that time, I’d thought I was just trying to be a decent
human being. Not long after that as it happened, I spent a week in
Liberal, Kansas, self-proclaimed home of Dorothy Gale of
The Wizard of Oz. Who
knew there was a Liberal in Kansas?
I came across a historical marker that talked about the founding
of the town. “According to legend, Seymour S. Rogers, the first settler here in
the mid-1880s, was said to have been ‘mighty liberal’ with water from his well.
From this came the name for the city established here in 1888.” I take it that
‘liberal’ meant he shared what he had in abundance with people who needed it. It’s kind of
what I was preaching back in the 1970s when I actually filled a couple of
pulpits and thought Christians were just decent human beings who did their best to help others. Remember when Christians used to be liberals?
A popular Facebook quote I’ve seen lately expresses pretty well
my views on the subject. It’s been variously attributed, including to Ron
Howard, however after doing a good bit of research, I discovered it was written
by Lori Gallagher Witt, author of the thrillers
The Tide of War and
Incel
and about thirty other books under her various pen names. She’d gotten tired of
the ridiculous concepts people attached to the term ‘liberal.’ I repeat her
January 2018 declaration here.
http://www.gallagherwitt.com/
I’m a liberal, but that doesn’t mean what a lot of you apparently
think it does. Let’s break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I’m
getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for.
Spoiler alert: not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I
know think along roughly these same lines:
1.
I believe a country should take care of its
weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children,
disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. PERIOD.
2.
I believe healthcare is a right, not a
privilege. Somehow that’s interpreted as “I believe Obamacare is the end-all,
be-all.” This is not the case. I’m fully aware that the ACA has problems, that
a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it’s
impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an
argument against it that makes “let people die because they can’t afford
healthcare” a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper
than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I’m not opposed
to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.
3.
I believe education should be affordable. It
doesn't necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I’m
mystified as to why it can’t work in the US), but at the end of the day, there
is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure
debt.
4.
I don’t believe your money should be taken from
you and given to people who don’t want to work. I have literally never
encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem
with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth
while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying
because they can't afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs,
universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their
share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes
me a communist.
5.
I don’t throw around “I’m willing to pay higher
taxes” lightly. If I’m suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it’s
because I’m fine with paying my share as long as it’s actually going to
something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while
Americans die without healthcare.
6.
I believe companies should be required to pay
their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as
me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a
Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three
full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should
not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have
employees on food stamps, workers shouldn’t have to work themselves into the
ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for
someone to work 40 hours and live.
7.
I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to
stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to
forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal;
*compulsory* prayer in school is—and should be—illegal). All I ask is that
Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get
pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I’m not
“offended by Christianity”—I’m offended that you’re trying to force me to live
by your religion's rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of
Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That’s how I feel about Christians trying
to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don’t force
it on me or mine.
8.
I don’t believe LGBT people should have more
rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.
9.
I don’t believe illegal immigrants should come
to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN’T WHAT
THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs
they’re supposed to be abusing, and if they’re “stealing” your job it’s because
your employer is hiring illegally). I believe there are far more humane ways to
handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining
children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).
10. I
don’t believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is
such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut
corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in
consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It’s not that I want the government’s
hands in everything—I just don’t trust people trying to make money to ensure
that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid
of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers
have recourse if they’re harmed and companies are liable for medical bills,
environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the
alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom
line into the equation.
11. I
believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or
because I can’t get over an election, but because I’ve spent too many years
reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not
because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are
actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.
12. I
believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many
people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with
privilege—white, straight, male, economic, etc.—need to start listening, even
if you don’t like what you’re hearing, so we can start dismantling everything
that’s causing people to be marginalized.
13. I
am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in
government. What I am interested in is the enforcement of present laws and
enacting new, common sense gun regulations. Got another opinion? Put it on your
page, not mine.
14. I
believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social
politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles,
I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a
delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we
do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less
hurtful than the one you’re using, you now know better. So why not do better?
How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?
15. I
believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people
currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many
sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry,
billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.
16. I
believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They
should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same
rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?
I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I’m a liberal
because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn’t mean you should
work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just
means I don’t believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is
an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.
—Lori Gallagher Witt
And for the cousin who complained that she didn’t say anything
about her personal bogeyman, killing unborn babies (other than ‘Be a Christian.
Do your thing. Just don’t force it on me or mine.’), I’ll provide this answer from
another Christian since I can’t and won’t argue with ‘people of faith.’
—Sister Joan Chittister
That’s pretty much my
platform for 2020. I’m putting my vote where it most closely resembles my
beliefs, without any single issue standing in my way. I know we can’t get to our
ideal destination this year. We need to take the bus to the closest stop we can
get to.
