The reactionary right-wingers call me a liberal

I refuse to pretend that racism and sexism no longer exist, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe cutting the military from being able to blow up the world 10 times over down to only 8 times over is a bad thing, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe that money magically trickles down from the rich, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe giving a mother food stamps to feed her kids is a waste of money, while buying the air force a billion dollar bomber it doesn't want isn't, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe cutting the taxes of the rich helps the poor, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe Rush Limbaugh has talent on loan from God, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe that "market forces" are some magical panacea, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe that the profit motive creates virtue in people, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe that might makes right, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe the government should control women's reproductive choices, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe that single mothers are necessarily bad parents, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe only northern Europeans have culture, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe a union worker making $17/hr is overpaid while a CEO making $1 million/year is not, so they call me a liberal.

I refuse to ignore the long history of oppression, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe teaching children about cultural diversity is wrong, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe the only good jobs are ones where someone else is skimming off a profit, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe homosexuals are evil, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe family means a man ruling over a wife and kids, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe non-Christians are evil, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe liberals are subhuman monsters, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe that things are black-and-white, so they call me a liberal.

I don't believe their lies, so the reactionaries call me a liberal The more they talk, the more being called a liberal sounds like a compliment.

- Douglas Giles

[ 31 December 2005: Message edited by: DrConway ]

The right loves it when the left self-identifies as "liberal" rather than as "socialist". When the left plays on turf defined by the right, the right wins. The other problem ist that when the left self-indentifies as "liberal" rather than "socialist" it plays into the false notion that the main differences between the right and left are social in nautre, rather than economic. Capitalism is, and remains, the supreme enemy of the working class. Only a left that self-identifies as socialist can recognize the neddto replace Capitalism with socialism.

[ 31 December 2005: Message edited by: Left Turn ]