Obviously
my title is a loaded question with multiple possible meanings. That
is intentional. Lets begin with “left” being a rather vague
political label. Generally associated with that label are other
labels such as liberal, progressive, and socialist. Liberal is
often preceded by, “tax and spend” – tax us and spend on you
if you are one of those undeserving (unfortunate) others. Obviously
the Republicans have done a fine job of villainizing liberals. They
brand liberals as the ones who have made the government the problem
by rewarding welfare mom's, among other things. So now timid
Democrats are tippy towing around the label of liberal.
“Progressive!” There you go; call yourself a progressive. That
will solve the label problem. How can anyone object to a
progressive. It is after all a term that invokes a noble past, and
we all know Republicans love to celebrate the past. Unfortunately,
that is not quite true; what Republicans really celebrate is a
nationalistic mythology rather than our actual history. Real history
is far too messy for the simple slogans and rituals the Republicans
depend on. It is better to leave real history to the pointy headed
intellectuals. But Republican objections not withstanding, here is
a little background on Progressives in American history:
Wikipedia describes the Progressive Era as “... a period of widespread
social activism and political reform across the United States that
spanned from the 1890s to the 1920s. The main objectives of the
Progressive movement were eliminating problems caused by
industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and corruption in
government.”
To the Republican donors (aka
Plutocrats) the progressives were a bunch of malcontents who embraced
trust busters like Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft! And we
all know that Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft were not real
Republicans. The Taft that was a real Republican was Robert Taft,
who apparently believed that free enterprise means the most ruthless
and shrewdest plutocrats should be able to destroy the free market by
creating monopolies and/or by concentrating the resources and means
of production into fewer and fewer hands.
Destroying the free market! If you are
a Republican this topic invariably brings up the subject of
socialism. Socialism is the label the Republicans have spent the
most time villainizing, often using it interchangeably with
Communism. Socialism and Communism are not synonymous, but that does
not matter to Republicans. The distinctions between different groups
of people calling themselves socialists does not matter to
Republicans either. The Republicans will not tell you that the
American Socialists are usually inclined to favor regulations rather
than government ownership or that Democratic Socialists, though more
inclined to nationalize things such as health care and education,
still support democracy and free enterprise. The Republicans today
are not interested in debating facts or issues. They want to run
against labels. They have spent decades kicking and burning the
straw dog named socialism. If they call you a socialist you are in
good company considering that they have accused both Roosevelts
(Teddy and Franklin) as well as all the labor union leaders of being
socialists. They have also spent decades convincing the American
public that socialists want to take away all private property and
collectivize everything!
Given how successful the Republicans
have become in making socialism a pejorative term it was really
courageous of Bernie Sanders to call himself a socialist and
remarkable that he was still able to attract so many supporters. The
fact that he was so successful during the Democratic primaries and
the fact that other Democrats are now following his example has made
some established Democrats very fearful. This is good news for the
media pundits who are exaggerating the split in the Democratic Party
for dramatic effect. They are doing this in an effort draw the
marks to the pitchmen, and they are just one small gasp away from
going into full panic mode! “Oh woe,” they wail, “the
Democrats are turning hard left! How will they ever attract the
moderates they need to win the red states?” Big tent rather than
big guy, dumb ass! Whether you are on the right or the left the
popularity of Bernie Sanders and the success of Donald Trump should
tell you that people are seeing a problem that is being neglected,
and they want change. Forget the damn labels. From the foregoing,
it should be obvious that Republicans will denigrate any and all
labels denoting Democrats, and when necessary Republicans will even
create labels to attack. Furthermore, they villainize any and all
successful Democrats, particularly successful female Democrats.
So what is a Democrat to do? While I
agree with those who say it is better to avoid the label of socialist
because the uninformed view it as toxic, I think we should follow the
example
John F. Kennedy set when he said:
"If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead
and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid
reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people-their
health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights
and their civil liberties- someone who believes we can break through
the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our politics abroad, if
that is what they mean by a "Liberal", then I'm proud to
say I'm a "Liberal."
In other words, let your audience know
that you are a member of their community rather than a label, and you
want to run on the issues that are important to your community rather
than indulging in name calling! The environment is important; we all
breath, drink water and eat. Furthermore, health care, education,
fair wages, Social Security, etc. are important to everyone. Do you
really think that the health care you receive should be determined
by someone who considers any and all of your health care as overhead?
The answer to that question should tell you that universal health
care is not a radical idea. Nor is it radical to say that money
should not be sucked out of our public school systems to subsidize
charter schools favored by affluent parents. A quality public
education system is needed to guarantee opportunity for all and to
enlarge the educated talent pool of this country. It should be noted
that a complete education today also includes a college or a trade
school education. Tuition free colleges and trade schools are not a
radical idea; they are a necessity. Our children need a complete
education to compete in a global market!
What is left? A lot of important
issues I have not discussed here as well as a lot of fog and largely
meaningless labels. The middle ground today is the establishment.
It has been kicked, bitten and frayed by the radical right wing of
the Republican Party, and it is now generally regarded as weak and
ineffective. Call it moving to the left. Call it anything you want,
but the driving political force today is the need for change and
reform. We cannot take prosperity for granted when so many people
are being left behind. We have to change direction. Same old, same
old will not cut the mustard, not on a local level and not on a
national level!
