What Is a Liberal?

In the past few decades, "liberal" has become a dirty word to almost half the population because the way in which Republicans, and especially Trump, have defined it and spoken of it.  But "liberal" is quite different from their definition.

A liberal is someone who believes that all citizens – men and women – should be treated equally and that all have the right, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Whether you are rich, middle class, or poor; whether you are a person of color or white; whether you were born here or are an immigrant – you have that right.

And the role of government, again as stated in the Declaration, is to ensure those rights.  What does that mean?

It means that government must do what is necessary to ensure that all citizens have an equal opportunity to pursue those rights.  It may require laws, regulation of business, or funding measures.  But the goal is always to ensure that all citizens have a meaningful equal opportunity, – that is, not just stated on paper.

The goal is not to make everyone equal because that is not the goal of a democracy.  That would be communism.  Rather the goal of a liberal and of our democratic government is just to ensure each person has an equal opportunity to pursue their rights.  What people make of that opportunity is their own responsibility.

Further, a liberal does not just believe that all citizens have equal rights, he or she also believes that all people have obligations that flow from citizenship.  Under the American social contract that developed in the early 1900s, each citizen has an obligation to support the common good.  Each citizen has an obligation to do nothing that takes away another citizen's rights. Each citizen has a responsibility to support the government financially in its performance of its functions, each according to his means. 

And, yes, I am a liberal and proud of it.