what liberal means

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a liberal as a person "who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways". The Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines a liberal, in a political context, as "favouring individual liberty, free trade, and moderate reform". Liberal also means "willing to respect and accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own" and "favourable to individual rights and freedoms".

Isn't this the very essence of what it means to be an American? Wasn't this what the founding fathers fought for? America was the world's first liberal democracy. Liberalism was offered as the rational alternative to hereditary despotism, and corrupt government on behalf of vested interests and the privileged few. It subsequently lead to the birth of republics and constitutional monarchies all over the world.

A classic liberal was someone who believed in free markets, personal freedom and the rule of law. All the things the Republican Party says it stands for. But American government, under both Democrats and Republicans, has come to stand for political patronage, pandering to vested interests, gerrymandering and blatant vote buying at all levels. More alarmingly, we are now seeing serious erosion of individual liberties, and challenges to the separation of church and state.

At the same time the political hate-mongers have changed the meaning of the word. Liberal has become a derogatory term for the "looney left". Liberals are demonized, variously, as academics who are completely out of touch with ordinary people, wealthy intellectuals who champion the poor but refuse to give up anything of their own, or anyone who favors tolerance to an extreme, or political correctness over common sense. Liberals, collectively, are blamed for everything that is wrong with America.

Is this distortion of the language the result of ignorance, or is it part of a campaign to undermine and corrupt America's ideals? It is probably a combination of both. I doubt that any of the "liberal bashers" have any idea of the dictionary definition. But in the result they have made intolerance acceptable, fostered hatred and division, and diverted attention from the evils of corruption and abuse of power.

Most of those who claim to be liberal do not know what the word means either. Most are not champions of free markets or free trade, quite the contrary in many cases. A true liberal believes in reform of institutions that no longer work, not in socialism or paternalism.

For the record, Thomas Jefferson was a liberal, Benjamin Franklin was a liberal, John F Kennedy was a liberal, and Martin Luther King was a liberal. And so were most great Americans between.

quick bites

• Better a tax and spend Democrat than a spend and spend and spend Republican.
• How can the United Nations function as a police force, when the world's biggest criminals sit on its Board of Directors?
• Whoever you vote for, the lobbyists win.
• You can't pass laws to make people good.
• If the planet has a future, it is a vegetarian future. A meat eating planet has no future.
• Native Americans tried to end illegal immigration too.
• Intelligent Design. It's not even a theory. If we are the product of intelligent design, how come men have nipples?
• If they really trusted in God, they wouldn't have a military.
• If God had meant us to rely on faith, he wouldn't have given us brains.
• My message to America on September 11, 2001.....Get over it! We need to move on.

for a better america

Here are eight things America can do to save its people and strengthen its great institutions:

• Distance Israel. America's support for Israel's expansionism makes a lie of everything America says it stands for. If America stopped trying to defend the indefensible it would virtually cease to be a terrorist target and save tens of billions of dollars. Israel has weapons of mass destruction and permits no inspections. Israel invaded neighboring countries, drove out the existing inhabitants, condemned most of them to live out their lives in refugee camps, annexed their land, razed their villages, denied them their human rights, destroyed their economy and brutally put down the slightest resistance. None of this could have happened without massive, unconditional and unquestioning American support.
• End censorship. America's media is 99% dependent on private and corporate funding. Nothing that is critical of the policies supported by the rich and powerful gets any meaningful air play. America needs a viable public broadcasting network modeled on Britain's BBC or Australia's ABC. It doesn't have to be perfect, so long as it has broad programming appeal and is independent of government and business pressuring. At present the primary role of America's media is to keep the public ignorant.
• End corruption. American democracy cannot survive without the reform of political campaign funding. The power of lobbyists has to be watered down and gerrymandering has to come to an end. The practice of electing judicial officials in some states is also highly questionable. If judges have to raise large amounts of money to be elected, and play to the crowd, the process is inevitably corrupt.
• Keep church and state separate. This was one of the founding principles of America and a distinguishing feature of its constitution. Jesus himself said "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." The government has no business interfering with people's individual moral choices. Different faiths have to live with each other and all beliefs must be respected. Political decisions must be based on reason and evidence not on voices from God or personal interpretations of the Old Testament.
• Take a reality check. American patriotism is blind. America continues to support some of the most questionable regimes in the world (like Israel, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia), as it has so many times in the past. American history has been sanitized. As long as we deny the past we will continue repeating our mistakes. It's no coincidence that Israel today is doing to the Palestinians exactly what America did to the Native Americans.
• Legalize drugs. At least 80% of America's crime is drug related. The devil in decriminalizing drugs will be in the detail, but any alternative has to be far and away better than what there is now. Safer streets and huge savings in public spending, not to mention human lives. Minimal effort should be sufficient to assist the drug dependent. If history is any guide, drug addiction is unlikely to increase. The repeal of Prohibition did not lead to an increase in alcoholism. Quite the opposite.
• Invest in child care. The best way to end endemic poverty is to provide universal child care for pre-school children. The research shows, almost beyond argument, that the benefits are enduring. It gets disadvantaged kids out of their deprived environment and teaches them essential life skills at the right stage of their development. The price is nothing compared to the price of having to deal with the problems when they emerge in adulthood.
• Reform, reform, reform! America is a world leader in technology but clings to antiquated institutions like it's system of weights and measures, and it's land title system. Not to mention it's health care mess. Time for America to become a progressive country once again. Go metric for a start. Other countries have shown that the transition brings profits as well as costs. And the long-term benefit is a more efficient, user friendly system. Why persist with a British anachronism which even the British have abandoned?

for a better world

Only five things are necessary to end poverty and hunger and solve most of the world's environmental problems:

• Go Veg! This will make the biggest difference and it's something you can significantly impact on your own. No governments have to be changed and no laws need to be passed. Simply cut your meat consumption by 80%. Or better still give it up altogether. It takes four times the land area to support a meat eater. If America were to give up meat tomorrow deforestation would come to a grinding halt, worldwide. Cut down on seafood too, or our oceans will also die.
• End agricultural subsidies in rich countries. America and the European Union in particular. That will make it economic for farmers in poor countries to produce sufficient food for local populations.
• Bring about land reform and land redistribution in poor countries. This has been the first step in achieving near miraculous economic growth in almost all previously impoverished nations. Examples include land reform under General Macarthur in Post-War Japan, through to South Korea and China in more recent times.
• Reform markets in poor countries. Let markets work and people will be free to improve their own lives. The distribution of all resources should largely be left to market forces, including water.
• Create wildlife corridors. We need corridors to link up existing islands of wildlife habitat. This will allow flora and fauna species to migrate and adjust to climate change. If wildlife is confined to isolated pockets mass extinctions are inevitable.