OUT OF MY LIBERAL MIND

WHO'S A LIBERAL?

This being the first of a series to be called “Out of My Liberal Mind,” perhaps some explanation is indicated.  A little research tells us that historically, in ancient Rome and Greece, before liberal became a political term it referred to the study of subjects believed essential to the education of a “free” person (those of us forced to endure the study of Latin in high school will remember liber), from which emerged our more modern concept of the “liberal arts” as opposed to sciences or craft training or other areas of more tightly specialized study. Eventually, though, liberal worked its way into politics and became closely associated with another word, liberty which initially referred to privileged classes’ freedom from the king’s whims. It came to be associated with the right to pick your rulers, exemption from arbitrary government action like grabbing your property or arresting you without any cause, and ultimately much later with the kind of rights set out in the First Amendment to our Constitution: freedom of speech and assembly, a free press, free exercise of religion.

Does that mean a liberal is defined as someone who says something to Republican-sounding as keep my government at a distance so I can be free? Well, yes, in some ways, but I contend most definitely not in the Ronald Reagan sense when he co-opted the phrase (although clearly not the first to say it): “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” While many conservatives say this is is their core belief, of course on its face it’s ridiculous. Anyone who has felt the immense relief of the paramedics arriving promptly to help a loved one in great distress, or the joy of attending the graduation of a child from a public high school or university, or felt deep sadness seeing first responders suffer horrible losses rushing into harm to save lives of endangered people after a disaster knows the arrival of someone from the government to provide help, far from terrifying, can on the contrary be the most reassuring and uplifting event in life.

First, we need to agree there’s no universal test to distinguish liberal and conservative in any broad sense. Notorious conservatives such as Andrew Carnegie or John D. Rockefeller were also among America’s most generous philanthropists, endowing universities, libraries, hospitals. Bill Gates has contributed to both Republican and Democratic candidates — no one apparently knows his political registration, if any — yet has created the billionaire pledge to give away the vast bulk of his fortune upon his death, a pledge which many very rich have signed on to but with notable exceptions. (Elon Musk, are you paying any attention?) Conservatives created and perpetuate huge liberal government subsidies for some farmers, especially including giant megafarms in some states, but are strongly opposed to food stamps or larger taxpayer funding for the arts or welfare assistance or increased foreign aid to some countries, even though the U.S. lags behind other countries in the percentage of wealth devoted to aid programs, domestic or international.

Perhaps we can agree that in general conservatives mistrust larger government spending programs like Medicare and Social Security while liberals would expand such programs and create new ones. Conservatives love tax deductions where you can write off the lion’s share of home mortgage payments which only benefits home owners as opposed to renters -- and the more expensive the home the more generous the benefit --  but they don’t like government food stamp programs to feed the poorest. Liberals would support tax policy to reduce the gap between the richest and the poorest in our country but conservatives believe boot straps are for pulling yourself up.

Political registration is less telling in measuring general liberality than one might think, and interestingly -- some might say counter-intuitively and, others, perversely -- sociologists are finding an increasing correlation between level of education and liberalism, although far from a decisive metric.

I feel quite strongly that a better test is to rate yourself on the spectrum of “how much do I care?” When, for example, you read that local police have cleared a homeless encampment, to what degree do you care about what became of the people who were dislocated? A little bit, a great deal, somewhere in the middle? I suggest that it is perfectly normal for someone to feel some “out of sight, out of mind” relief, but that is more the mark of a conservative who feels people must be mostly self-sufficient and are not the responsibility of the general public. I think the liberal wonders if there isn’t more we should all be doing to help with the problem, and the even more liberal actually would like to see significant — and I mean big — investment of public funds to deal with the homeless issue.  Another test could be how strongly you believe that health care must be a guaranteed right to (in the words of the preamble to our Constitution) “promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty” and essential to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

So put me down in the definite liberal camp as I expect you’ll clearly see as we go forward. But what I really aim for with the double-entendre column title Out of My Liberal Mind and commentaries from a different perspective is to stimulate a little critical thinking and provoke more civilized discourse as well.  If enough interest develops, I’ll try to make our conversations a regular event -- as frequent as current events, or my impulsive nature, move me.

Arne Werchick, after fifty years as a litigation attorney, pro tem judge, law writer and lecturer, former Presiding Arbitrator of the State Bar of California, and past president of the California Trial Lawyers Association, moved to Hawaii and lives with his wife Ruth and their rescue dog Topaz.  He can be contacted at liberalmind@werchick.com.