By Dan Nelson
Liberals: take back the word
I’m not sure at what point in American history did “liberal” become a word of scorn. A Reagan-era “SNL” skit entitled “The Liberal” depicted a man on the run, The Fugitive style, after being branded a pariah for his dubious political alliance. Almost 15 years later, things have not changed much for the political left’s rightful moniker. Either through ineptness or an unwillingness to defend, liberals have allowed their name to be dragged through the mud to the point where it has almost become synonymous with “un-American.”
A cursory glance at any bestseller list from recent years shows that the liberal title is nowhere near being reinstated to a respectable position. Books by Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity all appear to have a welcome home on America’s reading nightstands. Sure, the left wing has its own popular proselytizers, but the unsavory Michael Moore can only write so many books. Perhaps conservative minds read more, but I find this doubtful.
I’m not wishing for the appearance of a liberal Ann Coulter. Writers such as Coulter have turned liberal-mindedness into a cartoon, and they have not received enough flak for their easy to digest, unhealthy generalizations and inaccuracies. Using the same strategies against conservatives would not be productive. Instead of attacking what it means to be conservative, liberals instead need to champion what it means to be liberal.
Perhaps liberals have been unwilling to do this because of their natural derision towards any political label. What does it mean to be liberal? Contrary to the conservative bestsellers, I believe most Americans are fiscally conservative but more socially liberal. I personally am more liberal concerning some social issues (gay rights) than others (gun control). While I’m sure that many conservatives appreciate this political murkiness, liberals by their nature have been forced to wrestle with it. In its most basic meaning, a liberal thinker is someone who advocates change, new ideas over the old. To the public, change is much more scary than keeping or reverting back to the old ideas, and because of this liberals are extra vulnerable to being lumped with the extremists of their political wing. A reactionary in congress such as Jesse Helms can be trumpeted as a champion of original American values; his liberal counterpart, with no tradition to fall back on, is only labeled a communist, a terrorist lover, or worse.
To defend being liberal, then, is to defend all advocates of new ideas, or, in other words, political suicide. The conservative monopoly of the past benefits them in other ways as well, by aligning their politics with the American symbols of old. This is what allowed one Cardinal columnist last week to title his editorial “Why do Liberals Hate America,” offer the offenders’ supposed distaste for the national anthem and the flag as evidence, and then plop a giant illustration of Old Glory in the middle of his words. Certainly not all liberals dislike hearing the National Anthem being incessantly played like some sort of self-righteous battle cry. However, it is true that liberals would be the first to discard the material symbols of the past, but this should not be translated as disdain for our country.
So, without the help of Old Glory, how can liberals remove the mud from their name? One of the primary assets of American culture that has made our nation so successful is our embracement of change. Without the cultural baggage of the Old World, America has always been more willing to replace the old with something better, and this has not been limited only to fashion. I propose that liberalism and its embracement of change is a much more substantial symbol of America, more significant than any flag or overplayed tune. While liberals will always face an uphill battle getting their ideas across, they need not feel ashamed for being labeled a forward-thinker. What Americans need to realize is that liberals do not hate America, they only hate the chains of tired ideas and symbols that some people would like to label “America.” The truth is, there is no palpable America. The country was born through change, is in a constant state of refinement, and is liberal at heart. It is a shame that America’s heart has become a dirty word.
