Thoughts on liberalism

During a conversation Saturday night, the person with whom I was speaking said that he had rarely spoken with somebody who could explain why they were a liberal. I didn't take the opportunity to explain my position but after mulling it over for the past day, I thought it was worthing sharing some thoughts.

John F. Kennedy described someone who is liberal as "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."

I think that conservatives/Republicans/Fox News have turned "liberal" into a buzzword for all the evils of the world. I have adopted the term "progressive" as a better means of describing my political philosophy because I think the term illustrates what the core of true liberalism is. It is about effecting positive change in ways which benefit the whole, rather than select individuals.

My progressivism isn't about spending money for the sake of spending money, domestic and foreign policies which weaken our country, protectionist isolationism, deliberate redistribution of income merely for the sake of giving the government more money to throw around. It is a belief that each individual should have the best opportunity to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," with the recognition that not all individuals start with the same footing and opportunities. It is not about limitless resources to all individuals or limitless advantages only to those with limitless resources, it is about recognizing that people must be given the best opportunity to realize their full potential.

There is, undoubtedly, criticism to be found for the position that I have staked but it is not enough to simply assume that everyone, on their own, will be fine. Government, at its purest, would seem to exist solely because of and for an empowered citizenry.

My progressivism recognizes that progress comes from the top-down (government to the people) and from the bottom-up (individuals influence the government). Change your life, change the country, change the world. Progress.