Proud Liberal

What would America be like without the liberal advances of the past sixty or seventy years? 

Without the extraordinary contribution of liberals — from the mightiest presidents to the most unheralded protesters and organizers — the United States would be a much, much worse place than it is today.

Civil rights? Women’s rights? Liberals went to the mat for them time and again against ugly, vicious and sometimes murderous opposition. They should be forever proud.

The liberals gave us Social Security and unemployment insurance, both of which were contained in the original Social Security Act. Most conservatives despised the very idea of this assistance to struggling Americans. Republicans hated Social Security, but most were afraid to give full throat to their opposition in public at the height of the Depression.

Liberals gave us Medicare and Medicaid. Quick, how many of you (or your loved ones) are benefiting mightily from these programs, even as we speak. It's telling that Republicans are proud of Ronald Reagan, who saw Medicare as "the advance wave of socialism," while they actively and forcefully demand the benefits of it.

Delusional and hypocritical.

Without the many great and noble deeds of liberals over the past six or seven decades, America would hardly be recognizable to today’s young people. Liberals (including liberal Republicans, who have since been mostly drummed out of the party) ended legalized racial segregation and gender discrimination.

Liberals gave this country Head Start and legal services and the food stamp program. They fought for cleaner air and cleaner water.

Liberals. Your food is safer because of them, and so are your children’s clothing and toys. Your workplace is safer. Your ability (or that of your children or grandchildren) to go to college is manifestly easier.

It would take volumes to adequately cover the enhancements to the quality of American lives and the greatness of American society that have been wrought by people whose politics were unabashedly liberal. 

It is a track record that deserves to be celebrated.

The Truth is the Wagon Train

There is a historical marker in east Texas. It records that in 1842, one John McGarrah brought his family to Texas and settled there, founding the town of Buckner. Soon a church was built, then a school, then a trading post -- indications that neighbors had settled nearby. Four years later, on July 4, 1846, John McGarrah and his neighbors elected their first public officials and opened a post office. The marker captures the story of civilization, the progression from solitary initiative to social cooperation. First the prime family unit; then the wagon train; then the church and the school for worship and learning; then a trading post for the goods of survival and comfort; then local government for roads and public order; then the post office for communications with others; then a public holiday for celebration and recreation.

It is the story of a political culture that nurtures obligation, reciprocity, and trust.

Yet, many in our society today believe in and promote the myth of John Wayne. It is the fuzzy myth surrounding the embodiment of the rugged individual as savior of the West, and by extension the role of society in the life of the individual. It is the belief that I can go it alone, with my gun and half a reason to use it; I don't need a government that "comes at me".

The truth is the wagon train: if we don't get there together, we won't get there at all.

This is the truth for our society today.