Please Don’t Call Them "Liberals"

In a political forum I recently encountered a leftist’s claim that “leftists” were responsible for all the good in society, such as standing up for the right of women and blacks to vote, etc. I’m all for that kind of “leftism” — but the Republicans were right on slavery and they’re right on abortion, not to mention the fact that egalitarianism is a huge, hideous part of leftist ideology. By that reasoning, the Republicans have historically been the “liberal” party. Theodore Roosevelt (who actually didn’t like being called “Teddy”) was one of the first conservationist presidents, and was also a Republican. Leftists like to claim that being “pro-choice” is “progressive” and “enlightened.” Pioneer feminist and advocate of women’s suffrage Susan B. Anthony was not only pro-life, she cast her historic vote for, appropriately, Republicans. Where were the Democrats on the side of slavery? Women’s suffrage? Where does the Democrat party stand on abortion today? Most Democrats are not for a colorblind society and want to keep racial discrimination in place — even encouraging its legislation — by using propaganda to justify their own racism.

I try to avoid using the word “liberal” when describing today’s collectivists — after all, why should they deserve a term with such a rich and honored history as “liberal,” which comes from the Latin word for “free”? Talk about a misnomer. They hijacked the word and, even worse, they try to call themselves “progressive.” There is nothing “progressive” about their tired and disproved theories of a quasi-socialist government. “Progressive” would be a libertarian way of thinking. The founding fathers were “progressive.” The founding fathers were “liberal”, i.e., for freedom. Their ideas were groundbreaking and courageous and new. Today’s members of the Democrat party and leftists/statists are neither. Besides, “leftards” has such a nice ring to it.