My correspondent Ben's comment on this post in response to someone asking why do I call myself a liberal?
Things aren't what they used to be, and as a result, it gets confusing, with Liberals and Conservatives overlapping in ideas, and the Left moving so far left that they have left liberals far behind and should no longer be considered the same ideology. I believe much of this is because so many of the great Liberal battles have been won- we, as a nation, already have school lunch and medicaid programs for the poor and all but the most neanderthal of Americans beleives that racism and bigotry is disgusting, and we have an all-volunteer military and for the most part, we have saved the whales. So, in my view, the Left is an ex-liberal faction that became addicted to being on the outrageous fringe, and to get there, they have had to move further from the rest of us.
Liberals and Conservatives still have differences, for example, conservatives think that a gay couple should not be entitled to the same legal advantages of a straight couple while liberals disagree. Personally, I do not understand why this is wrapped up in "defense of marriage": I cannot imagine a happily married couple thinking their marriage is threatened because 2 gays down the street got hitched. That is part of what makes me and others like me Liberal. On the other hand, I believe that as a nation and a civilization, we have a right and a duty to use deadly force to protect ourselves and all that we love, and hence, I am a Liberal Hawk.
So in further explanation, I've tried to give examples of Liberal thinking, Liberal Hawk thinking, and Left thinking below:
Liberals believe that societies have responsibilities to their members, and that government, as the main representative bodies of these societies, are empowered to address these responsibilities. Hence the wording in the Constitution authorizing the government to create laws for the “General Welfare”.
Liberal Hawks believe that one of the most important of these responsibilities is “keep the people safe from psychopaths with bombs”.
The LEFT, on the other hand, believes that the prime responsibility is to keep the psychopaths safe from the government.
Liberals believe that the government must provide a “level playing field” for the economic interactions between citizens, and that this word “level” means with respect to wealth- laws must balance the weakness of the poor in their dealings with the rich.
Liberal Hawks believe that this level playing field must not be so forcefully leveled so as to give no advantage to skill, patience, perseverance, and other qualities.
The LEFT believes that the playing field must be so totally level that differences in personal work habits, intelligence, skill, ambition, or hygiene mean nothing.
Liberals believe that the beginning and end of Human Life are slippery points, difficult to pin down, and require individual ethical decisions. Liberal Hawks generally concur. The LEFT, on the other hand, believes that Human Life begins when one donates to Move On. Or Greenpeace.
Liberals believe that our environment is a common trust of the people, a national treasure of great worth and beauty deserving of protection. Liberal Hawks add in a dose of consideration for the property rights and economic needs of people, and seek a balance. The LEFT believes that humanity, other than Approved Indigenous Peoples ™ (Generally defined as “Last successful conqueror before White Man arrived), is an affront to Mother Earth and ought to be removed from the environment.
Ben