What it means to be a liberal

[rodeodance]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0610100318oct10,1,1903801.story

> Editorials
What it means to be a liberal

By Geoffrey R. Stone. Geoffrey R. Stone, a law professor at the University of Chicago, is the author of "Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime."
Published October 10, 2006

For most of the past four decades, liberals have been in retreat. Since the election of Richard Nixon in 1968, Republicans have controlled the White House 70 percent of the time and Republican presidents have made 86 percent of the U.S. Supreme Court appointments. In many quarters, the word "liberal" has become a pejorative. Part of the problem is that liberals have failed to define themselves and to state clearly what they believe. As a liberal, I find that appalling.

In that light, I thought it might be interesting to try to articulate 10 propositions that seem to me to define "liberal" today. Undoubtedly, not all liberals embrace all of these propositions, and many conservatives embrace at least some of them.

Moreover, because 10 is a small number, the list is not exhaustive. And because these propositions will in some instances conflict, the "liberal" position on a specific issue may not always be predictable. My goal, however, is not to end discussion, but to invite debate.

1. Liberals believe individuals should doubt their own truths and consider fairly and open-mindedly the truths of others. This is at the very heart of liberalism. Liberals understand, as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once observed, that "time has upset many fighting faiths." Liberals are skeptical of censorship and celebrate free and open debate.

2. Liberals believe individuals should be tolerant and respectful of difference. It is liberals who have supported and continue to support the civil rights movement, affirmative action, the Equal Rights Amendment and the rights of gays and lesbians. (Note that a conflict between propositions 1 and 2 leads to divisions among liberals on issues like pornography and hate speech.)..........

[C_U_L8R]

1. the definition of good

LIBERAL via Old French from Latin liberalis, from liber ‘free (man).
- open to new behavior or opinions
- favorable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms
- favoring maximum individual liberty in political and social reform
- concerned mainly with broadening a person's general knowledge and experience
- occurring in generous amounts
- giving generously
- tolerant, unprejudiced, unbigoted, broad-minded, open-minded, enlightened; permissive, free, free and easy,
- easygoing, libertarian, indulgent, lenient, progressive, advanced, modern, forward-looking, forward-thinking,
- progressivist, enlightened, reformist, radical, wide-ranging, broad-based, general, flexible, broad, loose, free,
- abundant, copious, ample, plentiful, generous, lavish, luxuriant, profuse, considerable, prolific, rich, generous,
- openhanded, unsparing, unstinting, ungrudging, lavish, munificent, bountiful, beneficent, benevolent, bighearted,
- philanthropic, charitable, altruistic, unselfish, bounteous.

as opposed to....

CONSERVATIVE
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense )
- cautious about change or innovation
- sober and conventional
- purposely low for the sake of caution
- intended to control a condition,
- a person who is averse to change
- right-wing, reactionary, traditionalist; Republican; Tory, narrow-minded, bigoted, strict, scant, careful, miserly,
- redneck, traditionalist, traditional, conventional, orthodox, old-fashioned, dyed-in-the-wool, hidebound,
- unadventurous, set in one's ways; moderate, middle-of-the-road, buttoned-down; informal stick-in-the-mud.
- sober, modest, plain, unobtrusive, restrained, subtle, low-key, demure, square, straight, low

[elocs]

2. What is means to be a conservative. Their motto:

"You're on your own". I have seen it locally countless of times. They resent paying any taxes for anything that does not immediately benefit them. What happens to other people is not their problem. That is, unless it is an excuse for war or invading another country. They like to call themselves "Christians" but they are not Christ-like and are clueless as to what Jesus said in the Bible. A Liberal is the exact opposite of what a conservative is.