TABLE FOR ONE : Rethinking liberalism
Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008
There is an old saying: "If the horse is dead - get off ! "It appears the political movement sometimes called neo-conservatism is dead and the corpse is beginning to stink. Please, can we get off now ? Eeeuuweee !
We gave the neo-cons and theo-cons two terms, almost eight full years, to do it their way. Need we go through the list of disasters ? Oh, let's do: An invasion of Iraq based on lies; a secret energy policy that rewarded ExxonMobile and de-emphasized alternative fuels leading to $ 4 per gallon at the pump; torture as an official government policy; an attempt to suspend habeas corpus; hiring of federal attorneys based on their political leanings; refusing to honor subpoenas from Congress; refusing dialogue with potential enemies, such as Yassir Arafat and Kim Jong ll; refusal to regulate the banking industry; and on and on and on, each disastrous policy flowing out of conservatism.
With the country in such shape, it's astonishing the presidential race is so close. I can only attribute this to one thing - America's irrational fear of change. We are so afraid the boogie man, terrorists, are going to get us that we are still hanging desperately on to the reins of a dead, rotting horse. There are aspects of conservatism that are positive. Less government in our lives, fewer taxes and flag-waving can be good things. But less government to the detriment of our citizens and irrational flag-waving when the country is wrong - Iraq - is really dumb.
OK. What's done is done. Let's look to the future. To carry the metaphor further, let's get on a different horse. Let's mount up on a big stallion named Pragmatic Liberalism. Barack Obama may be our new ride. Giddy-up !
I know the very word "liberal"has been made a cuss word by neo-cons and theo-cons. Through a big fat buffoon named Rush Limbaugh the neo-cons have convinced average Americans that liberalism is akin to communism. But when we gaze upon the wasteland that is old-line conservatism, liberalism looks like our greatest hope.
What is liberalism ? To me liberalism is based on a willingness to try new ways of seeing things and doing things. Conservatism is based on keeping things the same. Or even going back to the way it used to be. I'm gonna stay on that dead horse because my ancestors rode it. Liberals are willing and even anxious to find better ways of being in the world.
For example, Obama says he is willing to talk with potential enemies, like Iran. Conservatism, or the old way, says never talk to the bad guys unless they first stop being bad. Only one problem: the bad guys don't think they are bad. Obama is then cursed as a disgusting liberal. Let's agree it is liberal to do things in a different way. The old way didn't seem to be work very well. Bush refused to talk with Kim Jong Il until he gave up on his nuclear weapons program. That philosophy is based on the idea that you give me something and then I'll talk to you. Rather arrogant to assume or demand that the other guy changes something and then I'll condescend to dialogue with you. It didn't work, and we lost six years of potential negotiation. Then Bush flip-flopped and agreed to talk with them along with five other nations, and North Korea soon agreed to stop their nuclear program. Bush became a disgusting liberal and it worked. Go figure.
Conservatives say they want less government in their lives, especially in private enterprise. Not a bad idea, actually. Liberals don't really want government interference either. Unless it's really needed. Conservatives failed to regulate financial institutions the past seven years. Look what happened. Financial institutions got greedy and extended loans to people who couldn't afford them. The government should have been regulating big banks and credit card companies. Millions of college graduates now have tens of thousands of dollars in debt on a half dozen credit cards that were way too easy to attain. Would it be liberal or conservative to regulate Visa and Mastercard ? Conservatives insist the free market must be left alone to work itself out. I say it's time to get off that dead horse. Financial institutions are so gargantuan they require some regulation.
What about home loans ? Did you see the woman on CNN who got a loan for a $ 500, 000 home ? She makes less than $ 50, 000 a year. And that's happened all over the country to thousands of people who are now losing their homes in foreclosures. Seems to me the government should have been regulating those subprime loans. Do you think the government will interfere with free enterprise and save all those middleincome citizens ? Of course not. But they will intervene and bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Would that be liberal or conservative ? Who cares what it's called. It's necessary.
Barack Obama is different. He talks a new game. He's willing to try new ways. He insists we try new energy sources and get us off our oil addiction. That's the future, and it's liberal. While a grumpy, old fighter pilot spurs the dead horse and snarls," Drill here, and drill now !! "That's conservatism. Interestingly enough, I disagree with Obama and side with the old grumpy guy on the future of nuclear energy. Am I a liberal or conservative on nuclear energy ?
It's going to be a close presidential race because America is so afraid of new ways. We love our comfort zone even if it's killing us. Many Americans, namely conservatives, are comfortable with the dead horse even if it stinks to high heaven. Will America have the courage to get off a dead horse ? The more liberal among us are counting on it. Giddy-up !
Grady Jim Robinson lives in Fayetteville. His column appears on Wednesdays.
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