The 'L' Word

                 

Note: this essay has been updated from it's original posting in 2012, because reasons.

I AM A LIBERAL.

There… I said it, and I meant it. Don’t like it? Too bad for you, boo hoo.

It’s not easy being a LIBERAL these days because the meaning and inference of the word LIBERAL has been cast as a red flag, a scarlet letter, a degrading moniker to be assigned, ridiculed and dismissed with malice. With all due respect, I beg to differ (with thanks to www.dictionary.reference.com):

“lib•er•al (adjective) 1. favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs. 2. noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform. 3. of, pertaining to, based on, or advocating liberalism. 4. favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties. 5. favoring or permitting freedom of action, especially with respect to matters of personal belief or expression: a liberal policy toward dissident artists and writers. 6. of or pertaining to representational forms of government rather than aristocracies and monarchies. 7. free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners. 8. open-minded or tolerant, especially free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc. 9. characterized by generosity and willingness to give in large amounts: a liberal donor. 10. given freely or abundantly; generous: a liberal donation. 11. not strict or rigorous; free; not literal: a liberal interpretation of a rule. (noun) 14. a person of liberal principles or views, especially in politics or religion.”

For context, here is the same source’s definition of ‘conservative’:

“con•serv•a•tive (adjective) 1. disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change. 2. cautiously moderate or purposefully low: a conservative estimate. 3. traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness: conservative suit. 4. of or pertaining to the Conservative party. 5. having the power or tendency to conserve; preservative. 6. a person who is conservative in principles, actions, habits, etc. 7. a supporter of conservative political policies. 8. a member of a conservative political party...”

Am I missing something here? After reading through both definitions, I can't think of a personal philosophy that would suit humanity better than being considered LIBERAL.  I know this much: nothing short of (another) lobotomy would convince me to schwing over to the Dark Side and embrace conservatism. Only removing the remaining portions of my frontal lobes and cerebral cortex would do it.

I choose to live by the precepts set forth in the popular definition of the word LIBERAL. I strive to integrate these concepts into every aspect of my life. To do any less seems mired in the smelly goo of Dark Age regressivism.

I AM A RADICAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL.

I want a political system that serves the interests of ALL the people. In our ADD-addled country, we need to make sure we govern with compassion and strength, with wisdom and empathy, with intelligence and humor and maturity. I dream of the day when our current brand of scorched-earth adversarial politics will be replaced by a lively consensus government made up of people from all walks of life, from every income level and every strata of our great country, but where money does NOT buy influence or votes and is no longer a viable political weapon.

I AM A MEXICAN-AMERICAN LIBERAL.

I want true equality among the many vibrant lines of ethnic heritage that make us the most diverse and unique country in the world. I hope to live long enough to see our country become a place where, as Bob Marley wrote, “the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes.” Before I take the dirt nap, I hope the last vestiges of racism and racial inequality will be tossed into the dumpster of history, replaced by the reality that we are indeed 'one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'

I AM A PRO-CHOICE FEMINIST LIBERAL.

All women must have complete bodily autonomy, and be released from the primitive shackles of forced childbirth and unwanted children. I want every woman who CHOOSES to give birth to do so without having to worry about their health and well-being, and that they will never want for food or clothing or shelter or healthcare or education. Every young girl should have a path to create any future they choose, whether at a jobsite or in a racecar or as a homemaker or in the Oval Office or in orbit around Mars. Young girls need to learn in school that they will grow up to be a woman in control of her own destiny, equal to boys in every way (even though she knows she really is better than any smelly boy hee hee).

I AM A FREETHINKING SECULAR LIBERAL.

I want practitioners of every religion, spiritual philosophy and belief to know they have the freedom to hold that faith close to their heart, knowing they will never be branded as ‘the other’ simply because of the icon they wear around their neck, the piece of cloth on their head or the house in which they worship. At the same time, our government must also be strongly secular in thought, word and deed in order to ensure that no single faith holds sway over any other faith, nor against those who choose to hold no sectarian faith at all. 

You know, like ME.

I AM AN EQUALITY-LOVING LIBERAL.

I want every LGBTQ+ person to be considered as an equal to everyone with whom they share this country. Ask me if I chose to be heterosexual and my answer will be “I didn’t choose to be hetero... I just am.” It eludes me how anyone could convince themselves that our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters chose their sexuality and the terrible stigma of hatred and vilification that comes with acknowledging and asserting their sexual identity. What are we… ignorant rabid wolverines? As my religious friends like to say, ‘God don’t make no junk.’

I AM A CAR-WASHING, LAWN-MOWING LIBERAL.

I support all people from other countries who come to our shores to seek freedom, earn a living, pay taxes, support their families and make a life for themselves here, regardless of their nationality. We should be grateful to anyone who chooses the United States as their homestead, and make it far easier for them to gain their legal status and citizenship, if that's their desire. No human being should ever be classified as ‘illegal’, and every immigrant who works hard at their job is as vital, as needed, as important as any American citizen. No matter what job a new émigré takes on, they are an important cog in the giant machine that drives our common fortunes forward, adding to the foundational strength of our nation.

I AM A BLOOD-DONATING LIBERAL.

Every single person living in this country should never be without affordable, accessible and competent healthcare, no matter how much or how little money they have stuffed in their mattress. We must strive to ensure that no one ever lies awake at night, worrying about how they'll pay for the hospital and doctors and nurses and specialists that are caring for them or their loved ones. When a college grad strikes out on her own, she should be able to do so knowing that her dreams won't be stymied by an unplanned illness or accident or pregnancy that could devastate her savings and livelihood. When we all share in the costs to support universal healthcare, we all reap the benefits of a healthy, happy and motivated society of non-rabid wolverines.

I've been called many degrading and insulting names in my lifetime. I suspect we all have at one point or another,  and recent events have me thinking about how casually we tend to label those with whom we have alternate points of view. Our current seething political brouhaha has created an environment that incites name-calling, whether justified or not. 

Think about it: if you're a conservative and want to offer a dismissive categorization of the opposite thinker you're jousting with, no word is better suited than calling them a LIBERAL and then crossing your arms and smiling... job done, NAILED IT. It doesn’t work the other way around. Trying to stuff someone by calling them a (gasp!) CONSERVATIVE gets nothing but blinking eyes and a sense of ‘Yeah… and?’ I’m often confused about how The ‘L’ Word came to wield such negative force.

I'm not ashamed to call myself a LIBERAL.  I'm not concerned when someone calls me a LIBERAL, whether their intention is upbeat or not, and I don't shrink away from it.  It is what I am, and since words matter, I'm more than pleased the active online dictionary defines the word LIBERAL in such a positive manner.

I'm proud to be a LIBERAL.

Conservatives will never stop trying to poison the waters with their vilification of all things LIBERAL, but that's just how they roll, innit?  They fear change, they fear the unknown results of doing things differently.  They like everything being the same as it always was, because it is a known known.  The problem with conservative philosophy is the stagnation that results from never changing, doing things the same way, day after day, year after year.

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” ~ John F. Kennedy

For myself, I'll keep on pushing for the egalitarian, diversity/equality/inclusion-infused society that I will likely not live long enough to experience.  I'll strive to support anyone who sees injustice, inequality and unfairness as the old way of doing things, the way that I do every day as a self-proclaimed LIBERAL.  I'll continue to educate myself with the facts of modernity, while never ignoring the past for fear of repeating it.  

I AM A 100% MOTHERF**KING LIBERAL.

Don’t like it? Too bad for you, boo hoo.



Lead image, gracias de Google Images; ZZ Top "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide" and Johnny Cash "The One On The Right" videos, muchisimas gracias de youtube.com. Harris/Walz 2024!!

Female Trouble

May 5, 2022 - The relevance of this essay from 2012 (now updated) is a sad testament to the insanity that surrounds the issues of  female self-determination, family planning, contraception and abortion, seemingly the most important things in the world to the conservatives among us. With the SCOTUS poised to eliminate federal protections for abortion rights, my observations from a decade ago are still painfully obvious and devastating - Oblio

Preface: this is a rant about the systematic misogyny and anti-woman legislative attacks being carried out by the Regressive Conservatives in Congress and state houses across the country. If you don’t believe there’s a ‘War On Women’ taking place in our modern political discourse, then you're either not paying attention, don’t care, or live in a world without women (a sad and lonely place, indeed). 

I'm not a woman, so I'll assume that some of the nuances involved in this essay will never EVER be completely self-evident to me. However, I feel like I have more female-centric empathy than the Average Bear. A staunchly conservative female co-worker once described me as ‘the gayest straight man’ she’d ever known, and I took that as an honest compliment because that's how she meant it. 

I don't understand the current hysteria being screeched by Conservatives over family planning, contraception, abortion and the subject of women’s healthcare. It’s the antediluvian mindset that's brainwashed those who would limit, restrict or eliminate a woman’s right to make decisions about her body. The entire (mostly male) segment of our Right-leaning politicians and citizenry are bound and determined to take us back to the days when women were chattel, owned outright by their male overlords. Don't forget... it wasn't until 1920 that women were allowed to vote.

“If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.” – Florynce Kennedy 

It isn’t simply a case of Regressives not wanting ‘their’ tax dollars used for things they don’t really consider healthcare. It’s actually an overreaching ploy to establish and maintain authority and control over women’s individual rights and life choices. Regressives need to feel they have control over women, and the fake-pious Rethuglicans keep sticking their size 10’s into their mouths with every pronouncement of how they'll assert control over female bodies, specifically the uterus. 

It's fascinating that the same folks who espouse the concepts of Smaller Government and States Rights and Personal Freedom and all that… want the federal government to force women to simply roll the dice when it comes to having sexual relations. If they wind up preggers, oh well… GOD’S WILL. 

They don't just want to eliminate family planning, contraception and abortion. They want theocratic control over women’s physical lives to match a stilted vision of 'How Things Should Be', as directed by that Great Eye In The Sky and his minions on Earth who wear dresses in church and rape young boys in the small rooms behind the altar, with the visage of a mythical dying man nailed to a torture device, hanging on-high, exalted. 

Is that too harsh? Too bad… deal with it. I have no patience for uninformed, narrow-minded religiosity when it comes to the issue of women's reproductive rights. 

Fact: 98% of women in this country use, will use or have used some form of contraception in their lifetimes. Since they're uniquely equipped to give birth, it only stands to reason that each and every woman must have the ability... the right... the choice to conceive and give birth or not as they see fit, and this is specifically a women’s health issue. It has nothing to do with religious freedom.

"Keep your rosaries off my ovaries" -- anonymous bumper sticker 

Let me be clear on something before I continue with my little rant: I totally accept that there are lots of people who consider every aspect of my viewpoint on this issue as a non-starter. For them, anything that interferes or obstructs the natural process of conception is an abortifacient. For them, anyone who willfully terminates a pregancy before giving birth is guilty of MURDER. I understand their arguments, but as has been confirmed (up to now LOL) by the Supreme Court and in countless surveys, studies and polls, the vast majority (70%+) of Americans are pro-choice and support a woman's right to choose whether or not to conceive and/or give birth. 

I will always respect an individual's right to believe what they choose to believe, but there's only one set of facts here. Facts and reality do not support those who, as the result of their own personal beliefs,  vehemently oppose and want to eliminate access to family planning, contraception and abortion for everyone else. 

OK, back to the ranting. 

I hate to break it to the forced-birthers out there, but here’s a news flash: contraception is a modern woman’s RIGHT, not a privilege or some special gift that requires anyone’s approval or blessing. Limiting and/or eliminating access to family planning, contraception and (as a natural progression) abortion services does NOTHING to advance the role of women in our society. Limitations to these services only holds women back, hostages to their evolutionary role as progenitors of the species. Women aren't simply walking uteri, mammalian vessels whose sole purpose is to give birth and make dinner, a concept championed by the uber-religious on behalf of their Unseen Sky Wizard and his ghost-written magnum opus. 

“If men could get pregnant, they’d sell do-it-yourself abortion kits at Home Depot.” – anonymous bumper sticker 

Women are half of our citizenry. Women are more than half of our workforce. Women deserve to be treated with the same respect as men at every level of our society. HOWEVER… since men will never EVER be put in a position to have their bodies taken over by the process of childbearing, women also have a far heavier burden of responsibility towards procreation. Therefore, since women are solely responsible for gestation of the unborn, it's logical to conclude that ONLY women should decide whether to conceive and give birth or not, and must have at their disposal every option and opportunity to exercise that choice. It's the only civilized response to their singular status. It’s not that difficult a concept to grasp. 

I've often posed the concept that women, as a member of the species homo sapiens, are just a tick further evolved than men. That statement is usually met with sneers of derision from men (and affirmative head nods from women) until I list the facts: 

1. Women live longer than men. 

2. Women can handle pain better than men. 

3. Women regenerate blood and sinew faster than men. 

4. Women are all, to a certain extent, psychic (sorry, guys… you know it’s true). 

5. Women have an incredible level of sensitivity and intuition. 

6. Women can engage multiple layers of conscious thought streams simultaneously. 

7. Women have their reproductive organs on the inside of their bodies. 

8. WOMEN CAN GIVE BIRTH. 

9. Women have the ability to make men completely wall-eyed and stupid(er) with a simple word or deed. A push-up bra also puts men into full-tilt chimp mode (sorry, guys… you know it’s true). 

These are only a few of the the facts that IMHO establish women as the more-evolved of the species, as the people we single-minded testicle-dragging meatheads must offer as much deference to as possible. Conversely, these facts are also why, in almost every human society since the Stone Age, women have been oppressed to control their influence and quash their voice. In almost every religious doctrine now being practiced on this planet, women are treated as second-class, second-rate, second-in-line. Women have been cast as the lesser of the species, subject to the vagaries of their ‘stronger’ male counterparts, when in fact men have always oppressed women because they secretly feared the power of the uteri-laden. 

"For a woman to get half as much credit as a man, she has to work twice as hard, and be twice as smart. Fortunately, that isn't difficult.” -- Charlotte Whitton 

I'm reminded me of a favorite scene from the film ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, where patriarch Gus Portokalos, called out over another instance of his dunderheaded ways, pronounces “MAN… is the HEAD of the family!" As an aside, his wife tells their daughter, “The man may be the head of the family, but the woman is the neck, and the neck can turn the head ANY WAY it wants to”. 

Soooo... now that you have a pretty good idea of where I stand on the issue of women's reproductive rights, you may be asking yourself what you can do about it  The answer is simple: SPEAK OUT. VOTE PRO-CHOICE. Don't stand by and allow the regressive theocrats to take another step towards the oppression of every American woman. Our wives, girlfriends, sisters, daughters, Mothers and friends need every voice to be raised in support of their singular and ongoing struggle to control their own lives, to be in charge of their individual futures. This isn't really a partisan political issue, although the battle lines do seem to be drawn in shades of bright Red and Blue. 

Sad to say, in the year 2022 we're still having a heated national argument over women's reproductive rights. I remain optmistic that we'll eventually reach a point of agreement/understanding on this issue, although it promises to be a knock-down drag-out battle in the upcoming primary and Presidential election seasons. I know this much: when it comes to the subject of women's rights, I'm a foot soldier on their behalf, ready to lead the conga line towards a more equal society. Come dance with me, won't you? 

"If you can't trust me with a choice, how can you trust me with a child?" - anonymous bumper sticker

Click the links below to find out more about these issues:

National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL)

www.prochoiceamerica.org

Planned Parenthood

www.plannedparenthood.org

Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF)

ffrf.org

Lead image 'Crucified Woman' by Eric Drooker, Muchismas Gracias de globalvoicesonline.com; Garbage 'Sex Is Not The Enemy' and Monty Python 'Every Sperm Is Sacred' videos, gracias de youtube.com