A letter published Monday attributes a host of ills to “liberalism.” Grandparents can’t babysit their grandkids(?) and foreigners are settling in. Discipline and honor are lost and we must “save our heritage.” To blame? Liberalism!
An avowed liberal myself, I must respond!
Our American heritage is one of constant conflict between liberals and conservatives. Generally speaking, liberals put people before profit while conservatives don’t.
In the mid 1770s it was conservatives who sided with the British while the liberal “rebels” (aka “The Founding Fathers”) put all on the line for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for every citizen. Government of, by and for the people (more or less) was the result.
In the 1860s it was conservatives who defended slavery as essential to the economy, and liberals who fought against it.
Martin Luther King Jr. was a liberal and a man of peace who cited Ghandi as a model. His advocacy of nonviolence in the civil rights movement saved many lives and was instrumental in the movement’s success. A conservative killed him.
Mahatma Ghandi was a liberal and a man of peace who cited Jesus, among others, as a model. His insistence on nonviolence in the independence movement in India saved many lives and was instrumental in the movement’s success. He too was killed.
Jesus was a liberal and a man of peace. Among his many teachings were “turn the other cheek,” “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” and “blessed are the poor…” We know how that story ends.
Though I am not worthy of comparison to any of these great liberals, still I proudly claim the label. I believe we, as a culture, must put people before profit. I strongly believe in personal discipline, honor, integrity and responsibility.
Liberalism is not the problem. It is part of the solution!
Jackie Minchew
Everett
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