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.

Better Aspirations

What have we done lately? Have we had a successful national initiative since 1969 and the moon landing?

If you look back at the recent years, our nation has achieved nothing in which we can take pride in as a nation; some wondrous act that people generations from now will study as examples for an enlightened, productive and just society.

I'm talking about the achievements such as: John Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the moon; Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, and the Civil Rights Act; Dwight Eisenhower's national highway program; Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the victory in WWII, the G.I. Bill, and his vision for the United Nations; Theodore Roosevelt's Square Deal, and the regulation of corrupt and monopolistic industries; Abraham Lincoln's ending of slavery, and his superhuman effort to hold our nation together; and finally, the First Transcontinental Railroad, the Monroe Doctrine and the Louisiana Purchase.

Since July 20, 1969, when an American set foot on the moon, what have we done with commitment and pride?

Since that time, a materialistic corruption has ruled American policies. How else can we explain the incompetence, the scandals, the corruption, the waste, the giveaways to those with much, the convicted lobbyists and the no-bid contracts? My explanation is that some in government want government to fail, so that Americans no longer believe that great things are possible. A disengaged citizenry is easier to manipulate.

I have a different view from this. Here are our next great achievements: lift working families out of poverty with supports for transportation, health care, nutrition, child care, education, housing, and other basic needs; resolve conflicts, reduce violence, and defeat terrorism without preemptive war; institute a consistent ethic of life (reduce abortion, end capital punishment, and stop genocide); strengthen human rights and promote human dignity; protect our planet from the interests and activities that damage it (reverse global climate change and develop clean, renewable energy); skillful measures to strengthen families must become a personal and national priority (without scapegoating gays, immigrants, or people diverse race, faiths or ethnicity).

Forty years of nothing is enough. Better aspirations and goals await us. We have been and can be a better nation than this.

So don't believe the lie that government is the problem. We the American people are the government, and it is time that once again we use it for our own greatness and for the benefit of all peoples of our shared planet.

Global Generosity

Thirty eight years ago, the United Nations estimated that 0.7% of each developed nation's gross national income would be sufficient for aiding the poorest of the world's nations. For emphasis, that is less than 1 penny on a dollar.

I send my warmest blessings to the following nations, who meet or exceed this amount: Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

(In contrast, the United States is tied for last place at 0.16%, although (thankfully) individual Americans are more generous.)

What was to be the form of that aid? According to the United Nations, it is to, "make loans tied to particular sources available for use by the recipient countries for the purpose of buying goods and services from other developing countries... Financial and technical assistance should be aimed exclusively at promoting the economic and social progress of developing countries and should not in any way be used by the developed countries to the detriment of the national sovereignty of recipient countries."

In other words, the assistance was to be low cost loans, with no strings and no interference. Pretty basic ideas.

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