Greetings and Salutations;
In the society of today, there are such levels of name calling, and hate that much of the time what a person believes is obscured by the delusions built by propaganda in front of the eyes of the beholder. For example, the title “Conservative” is currently almost a condemnation of a person. People who call themselves this are seen as room-temperature IQ, uneducated, sister-screwing mouth breathers, who are in the cult of Personality that #45 spread when in office. They are thought to be narrow-minded, hateful people who are dangerously prone to violence, and cannot be reasoned with.
Unfortunately, too many of these folks fall right into that model. However, there are still sane, rational, Conservatives out there. I am sure they are laying low because they fear the push back from their fellow conservatives if they show any signs of sanity, or disloyalty to #45. Look at what has happened to anyone on the Right who has disagreed with the cult! Liz Cheny, for example, has been banished from power, and is a target of their two-minute hate episodes. ALL the Republicans who worked with #45 but are now turning over information about his malfeasance are targets of hate and insults from him, and death threats from his more extreme cultists.
The Liberal faction in America has been labeled terrorists, pedophiles, vampyres, and traitors. They have been targets of the hate from the Right for years now. However, they, unlike the Right, have rules to live by that are far more positive. This set of standards showed up on my timeline, so I decided to collect it, and create this entry with it. I pretty much agree 100% with everything said in these points:
If you identify as conservative, fine. Libertarian, fine. But if you’d like to understand your liberal neighbors better, take a minute to read this… My feelings have nothing to do with #45, I have felt this way before him and will after he is gone! But to keep supporting this man with no morals, or class or a semblance of empathy, I can’t understand! Are you so blinded by your lifetime of brainwashing, that you will never accept an alternative to what you have been deceived into believing, I can’t accept!
Worry more about how your god is viewing your behavior, than how other people are living their “free” life!
“I’m a liberal, but that doesn’t mean what a lot of you apparently think it does. Let’s break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I’m getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:
- I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. PERIOD.
- I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that’s interpreted as “I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all.” This is not the case. I’m fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it’s impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes “let people die because they can’t afford healthcare” a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I’m not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen. (Note, too, that Universal health care would raise taxes…but it would eliminate insurance premiums – a fact that is rarely brought up – and in every other country that has implemented this program, the amount taxes went up is far less than the amount paid in premiums…for a net gain to the citizen!)
- I believe education should be affordable. It doesn’t necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I’m mystified as to why it can’t work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.
- I don’t believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don’t want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can’t afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.
- I don’t throw around “I’m willing to pay higher taxes” lightly. If I’m suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it’s because I’m fine with paying my share as long as it’s actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare. (As a part of this, I also believe strongly that the tax system must be reformed so the ultra rich pay a far larger percentage of their wealth into the pot. For example, #45 bragged about the fact that his first year as President, he paid a total of $750 in taxes. I, who was making at most, $20,000 a year, paid over $1100 in taxes most years. HE was pulling in millions of dollars in that time period…)
- I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn’t have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live. (as of today, in Tennessee, there is NO place where a person scraping by on minimum wage can rent or buy a home by themselves.)
- I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is – and should be – illegal). All I ask is that Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I’m not “offended by Christianity” — I’m offended that you’re trying to force me to live by your religion’s rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That’s how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don’t force it on me or mine. (Specifically, the Constitution has, as part of the very first amendment, a wall between church and state – This topic is a whole other essay, but, in short it is simply to ensure that NO religion is promoted by the government. We live in a Constitutional Republic..NOT a Theocracy…and the Founding Fathers wanted to make that clear.
- I don’t believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.
- I don’t believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN’T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they’re supposed to be abusing, and if they’re “stealing” your job it’s because your employer is hiring illegally). I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).
- I don’t believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It’s not that I want the government’s hands in everything — I just don’t trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they’re harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.
- I believe some of our administrations are fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I’ve spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.
- I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege — white, straight, male, economic, etc. — need to start listening, even if you don’t like what you’re hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that’s causing people to be marginalized.
- I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is the enforcement of present laws and enacting new, common sense gun regulations. Got another opinion? Put it on your page, not mine.
- I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you’re using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?
- I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.
- I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on Earth shouldn’t they be?
I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I’m a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn’t mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don’t believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.
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God Help Us All
Be safe, get vaccinated, wash hands, social distance, and wear your mask!
Bee Man Dave