What Is Liberal?

Most people tend to think history starts the day they were born and that things have always been the way they see them now. But when we think of the "old days", we often have bizarre pictures in our minds. Yet we still read back into the "old days" in an anachronistic fashion. In the picture above, not only is there just outright nonsense, we have a misuse of the term "liberal".

Words in the English language change in ways that perhaps have not done so as quickly as past generations. Even in my short life, I have seen words radically change in meaning. The term "Liberal" has perhaps suffered abuse unlike any other in modern political discourse. I first recognized this in Robert Bork's book, Slouching Towards Gomorrah, in which he argues (right or wrong) that most of those who consider themselves conservative could more accurately be described as "classical liberals". He does this because it is evident that modern liberalism has nothing to do with the liberalism of the late 19th century. But as he also notes, our nation has always had a natural bent within its historical liberalism to "slouch" in the direction of modern liberalism.

So let's deal with the above picture to see its distortions of the word. But I wish to work backwards in the list.

1) First, the Clear Air Act was signed into law by President Nixon in 1970. Yes, the evil Nixon signed into law the draconian Act which simply empowered the Federal government with unConstitutional power to regulate aspects of our lives. I would hardly think that Nixon has been considered a modern liberal.

Also, it was Nixon, who established the EPA. Hardly a so-called conservative icon on this issue.

2) Now it is true to say that modern liberals established Medicare. However, it is simply assumed that Medicare is right or good because it supposedly ensures health care for the elderly. However, as usual, the liars for big government predicted low costs to the tax payer for the program. The reality, however, has been nothing short of disaster and future bankruptcy of our nation's wealth.

To this day, we see no arguments from the Left or Modern Liberals that justify its existence. It is simply might makes right. They will not even attempt to argue the real arguments put forth by Medicare's opponents. Just call them evil for not wanting Big Government's ability to steal from one person in order to give to another. Libertarians make one simple argument that is often overlooked. If it is immoral/illegal for a private citizen to do an action, why is it moral/legal for the government to perform the same action?

3) The Civil Rights Act was and is a crime against liberty. In the name of freedom, the government has taken away your right to do with your property as you see fit. The irony here is that Democrats stood against the Act, not Republicans.

Classical Liberalism stood for private property rights. It was believed that legislating and empowering government to force citizens at gun point to be nice to their neighbor would only create more tensions than already existed. Walter Williams, a black man has argued as much here.

4) Modern Liberals may have ended segregation, but it was social engineering and central planning that brought about the nasty racism during the post-civil war era and Reconstructionism by the North. There are far too many factors and relevant issues to be discussed on a blog. But simply arguing liberals ended segregation is too simplistic and often hypocritical.

5) Modern Liberals during the era of President Roosevelt hi-jacked the term liberal. Up until this point, the term still had more libertarian meaning. However, with big government comes big changes. And yet, here again, we have an example of arrogance. Social Security is simply ASSUMED to be good.Why? Emotional arguments run the range from protecting old people to being good economics. Yet as I have demonstrated before, why is a program that otherwise would be illegal/immoral in the private sector all of a sudden be legal/moral simply because government does it? Don't bother waiting for an answer. None will be coming soon.

And by the way, the picture says it pulls people out of poverty. Do you know of any wealthy people that became wealthy because of Social Security? Of course not. But we all know of Americans who have become dependent on a system that keeps them there. If there was ever an example of statism, SS certainly would be on top of the list.

6) Liberals may have gotten African Americans the right to vote, but here again, we have to ask about the term. Was it not the Republican Party that was formed by the Abolitionist movement? Yet how many associate Republicans as being the defender of black people? Once again, a liberal does not necessarily mean what you think.

I am not a modern liberal at all. I am more of a conservative libertarian. As a libertarian, I believe in personal freedom. And being consistent, if I have the right to vote, why not a black man?

7) I saved the right to vote for women for last simply because it is more difficult and far more emotional. Modern Liberals to not take into account why those in the past could not vote. The reason is simple. Democracies were abhorred by the Framers of our land.

There are many reasons for our Founders despising democracies but it should be noted that it is always easier to cry discrimination and lie about the evils of rich people than to explain the historical and sound reasons for why laws were made what they were.

It is obvious that when non-private property owners get the power to vote, then government will eventually be given the power to steal from property owners and give to those who do not own private property. In the culture of the day men owned property, and if liberals are supposedly going to be true to their moral relativism, then why are they so quick to judge past cultures?

Now I have no doubt that men were also wanting to maintain power. But who among us doesn't see that most women would vote purely based upon an emotional level. This may sound like a terrible thing to say, but as any married man knows, his wife will often want to help others by emotional reasons. This is obviously a good thing, for it keeps men/husbands in check, but it can also swing society in the other direction.

As I stated earlier. Why is it ok for government to steal from property owners to give to those who do not own property? Don't hold your breath for a sound reason, but you will certainly get plenty of emotional ones.

Now don't take me wrong. Taxation without representation is wrong. Therefore, to be consistent, women property owners should have had the right to vote. Inconsistency is the sign of a failed argument. In this case, inconsistency may have led in part to past views as being wrong  when in fact they were simply inconsistently applied.

In conclusion, since this is getting too long, the term liberal has meant different things over the decades and centuries. It has clearly gone from a more libertarian to a modern Leftist and socially wacko. It clearly has become pejorative in modern usage. Yet the anti-Republicans (as they call themselves) are hardly doing us any favors. This is simply propaganda for modern Leftists by using and trying to claim a term while never actually defining it.