What's in a name?

John F. Kennedy:

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?"   If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then ... we are not that kind of "Liberal."   But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."   [September 14, 1960]

Liberal Principles

If the essence of liberalism could be summed up in one basic principle, it could be that liberals operate from the recognition that "we're all in this together,"  as opposed to the basic principle implied by conservatism being that "everyone is on their own, out to get what they can and what they deserve."

George W. Bush's handlers coined the phrase "compassionate conservative," which on the surface sounds catchy and appealing.  But the phrase is catchy or memorable largely because it is an oxymoron - there is no such thing in principle.  Not that Republicans or conservatives don't show genuine compassion at times, but that when they do they are departing from conservative political principles.  That's why "compassionate conservative" is such an odd term.

Liberals believe government has a fundamental responsibility to help those who are less fortunate.  Liberals have supported and continue to support government programs to improve health care, education, social security, job training and welfare for the neediest members of society.  Liberals maintain that a national community is like a family and that government exists in part to "promote the general welfare."

Liberals also believe that "free market" capitalism should not be left unchecked for its own sake.  Consumers and workers throughout our industrial history have benefitted from government intervention and government regulation of free market business practices, with regulations requiring safe and fair working conditions, consumer safety guidelines, and environmental protection laws.  Free market capitalism is an effective economic model, but should not be held as the supreme good or a virtue in itself, and is not inherently beyond reproach or restriction for the benefit of the common good of society.

These are just a couple general principles or beliefs that in my opinion are a key part of what it means to be politically liberal.  Undoubtedly, not all liberals will embrace this or any list of principle propositions, and many conservatives will embrace at least some of them.  It's hard to deny, though, that liberals have failed to define themselves adequately and to state clearly what they believe.  As a liberal, I find that disturbing.

The Political Spectrum

On the far right, we have the libertarians and "free market" Republicans, who believe nearly all government functions should be privatized.  The Republicans in power are actively privatizing much of national defense, such as logistics, food service, and some security services, and they're even profiteering in doing so (consider Halliburton).  They also work to privatize Social Security and many government services.  Pure "free market" capitalism is their mantra, and left unchecked it is demonstrably unworkable.

On the far left, we have communists and socialists who believe all businesses should be nationalized, owned and run by the State.  Pure communism and socialism are also proven by history to be unworkable.  Liberals, Democrats or Greens, are far from aligning with communism or socialism, yet from the far right liberals are equated with the "extremist left."

Liberals are actually in the center, in between the far right and the far left.  They are not extremists.  They are pragmatists.  They realize that for some things free markets work best and for other things government-regulation or government-management works best.

Unfortunately, Republicans have successfully redefined the center or the middle as the "extremist liberal left."  The country has drifted so far to the right that there practically is no "left," much less a "far left".

What is not adequately communicated, in my opinion, is that liberalism is principled, logical, pragmatic, and workable.