Before I even started following the world of politics, I can remember hearing radio ads where a man's deep voice adamantly declared that "liberals" are evil. Haunting music played in the background as he listed off the reasons why this was the case: Heavy taxers and spenders, against tradition, unsupportive of real American family values, and more cuckoo than Cocoa Puffs. Sadly, right-wing politicians' and media's bastardization of the term has often times worked. I even know some far left-leaning individuals whom now label themselves as progressive instead of liberal due to the negative connotation with the latter term. When looking at matters objectively, however, the bastardization of the term "liberal" really makes no sense whatsoever.
Take the dictionary, for example. Here are definitions of liberal:
1) "Open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values."
- "Favorable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms."
- "Favoring maximum individual liberty in political and social reform."
(synonyms: tolerant, unprejudiced, unbigoted, broad-minded, open-minded, enlightened, etc.)
2) "Concerned mainly with broadening a person's general knowledge and experience, rather than with technical or professional training."
(synonyms: wide-ranging, broad-based, general)
3) "Broadly construed or understood; not strictly literal or exact."
(synonyms: flexible, broad, loose, rough, free, general, nonliteral, nonspecific, imprecise, vague, indefinite)
4) "Given, used, or occurring in generous amounts."
- "Giving generously."
(synonyms: generous, openhanded, unsparing, unstinting, ungrudging, lavish, free, munificent, bountiful, beneficent, benevolent, big-hearted, philanthropic, charitable, altruistic, unselfish)
So, when taking the technical definition of the term liberal and substituting the word with synonyms of it in the context of a right-winger attempting to bastardize it, the comments come across as quite puzzling and even silly. Here are just a few such examples:
- "Those no good tolerant ones can't seem to accept the beliefs of Christians!"
- "There's no question about it; the big-hearted individuals on the other side of the spectrum are pure evil!"
- "There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it; enlightened people are stupid!"
Yeah, like I said, the comments come across as so ridiculous, they could properly be described as redonkulous.
Well, in any case, if anyone attempts to talk down to me by calling me a liberal, I'll simply smile, probably chuckle some, and think to myself, "Do they just realize they called me a tolerant, enlightened, big-hearted person?" Probably not, which makes it all the more sad and humorous.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=definition%20of%20liberal
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberal?s=t
Take the dictionary, for example. Here are definitions of liberal:
1) "Open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values."
- "Favorable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms."
- "Favoring maximum individual liberty in political and social reform."
(synonyms: tolerant, unprejudiced, unbigoted, broad-minded, open-minded, enlightened, etc.)
2) "Concerned mainly with broadening a person's general knowledge and experience, rather than with technical or professional training."
(synonyms: wide-ranging, broad-based, general)
3) "Broadly construed or understood; not strictly literal or exact."
(synonyms: flexible, broad, loose, rough, free, general, nonliteral, nonspecific, imprecise, vague, indefinite)
4) "Given, used, or occurring in generous amounts."
- "Giving generously."
(synonyms: generous, openhanded, unsparing, unstinting, ungrudging, lavish, free, munificent, bountiful, beneficent, benevolent, big-hearted, philanthropic, charitable, altruistic, unselfish)
So, when taking the technical definition of the term liberal and substituting the word with synonyms of it in the context of a right-winger attempting to bastardize it, the comments come across as quite puzzling and even silly. Here are just a few such examples:
- "Those no good tolerant ones can't seem to accept the beliefs of Christians!"
- "There's no question about it; the big-hearted individuals on the other side of the spectrum are pure evil!"
- "There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it; enlightened people are stupid!"
Yeah, like I said, the comments come across as so ridiculous, they could properly be described as redonkulous.
Well, in any case, if anyone attempts to talk down to me by calling me a liberal, I'll simply smile, probably chuckle some, and think to myself, "Do they just realize they called me a tolerant, enlightened, big-hearted person?" Probably not, which makes it all the more sad and humorous.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=definition%20of%20liberal
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberal?s=t
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