Cavalier Cavalry
First | Previous | Next | Current
That's Not The Insult You Were Looking For
All too often in the internet posting threads, the term "liberal" is thrown about as an insult, while the idea of being "conservative" is lauded as a good thing. But I look at these words, these ideas, and the policies and beliefs behind them and wonder why we've gotten things so backwards.
"Conservatives" claim they're the vanguard of "freedom", "liberals" are destroying it. Yet the names themselves tell you how the people think. "Liberal" has, at it's core, "liberty". It is the idea that we are all equal, demand equal protection under the law, and have equal protections from everyone else, be they corporation, church, or individual. "Conservatives" believe liberty should be conserved, doled out in precious allotments to those that, by some arbitrary standard, have "proven" themselves... and it's possible to fall from this grace, sometimes disasterously.
Liberals are also called "Progressives". I take it to mean that this is a group of people that can look around and say "hey, things can be even better!", whilst the Conservative looks around and thinks "What's wrong with now, I've got mine, I'm afraid of change even if it means everyone gets thiers as well."
Conservatives, at best, is an ideology of "right now". Everything is OK, RIGHT NOW. And for many Conservatives, it's hard to argue with that. They may have a roof over their heads, and a job... but their own party's policies have send many of their neighbor's jobs to China and India, their own incomes stagnant in purchasing power since 1981. But living in "right now" is a sign of fear. You've lost faith in what makes this country great, the ability to go forward not in just standard of living, but in bringing that standard to more and more of it's people over the course of 200-plus years.
Progressives, if not liberals, believe in the future. NASA before the DoD, education before corporate welfare. The idea is to always strive to be better, not just as individuals, but as communities, counties, states, and as a nation. Progressives believe in a fair playing field, in an equal opportunity for all. We believe in hand-ups, not hand outs, and we recognize that to fix some of the problems we face, it's going to take more than just four years, let alone the length of a modern news sound-bite.
As a nation, we've forgotten this. We are always better looking to the future, doing the best for as many people as we can, to make this country the beacon of light, hope, and equality that it has served as for 200-plus years. We didn't get here by being "conservative", everything great came from taking a chance, and expanding liberity to more people, rather than conserving it for a precious few.
I do not know if I am, by modern standards, a "liberal". But I do know I belive in liberty, and I am proud to say I am a Progressive. I'm not insulted. I'm proud.
13 August 2012
R. Sterling Frank II