I enjoyed this piece by Lori Gallagher Witt. She gave permission for
anyone to modify it, which I did when I changed the word "Liberal" to,
"Progressive"
Carl Jarvis
**********
An open letter to friends and family who are shocked to discover I'm a
Political Progressive... I've spent years calling myself a liberal,
but Progressive comes closer to describing me. that doesn't mean what
a lot of you apparently
think it does.
Some of you suspected. Some of you were shocked. Many of you have
known me for years, even the majority of my life. We either
steadfastly avoided political
topics, or I carefully steered conversations away from the more
incendiary subjects in the name of keeping the peace. "I'm a
Progressive" isn't really something
you broadcast in social circles where Progressive can't be said
without wrinkling one's nose.
But then the 2016 election happened, and staying quiet wasn't an
option anymore. Since then, I've received no shortage of emails and
comments from people
who were shocked, horrified, disappointed, disgusted, or otherwise
displeased to realize I am *wrinkles nose* a Progressive. Yep. I'm one
of those bleeding
heart commies who hates anyone who's white, straight, or conservative,
and who wants the government to dictate everything you do while taking
your money
and giving it to people who don't work.
Or am I?
Let's break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I'm getting a
little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for.
Spoiler alert: Not
every Progressive is the same, though the majority of Progressives I
know think along roughly these same lines:
1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A
country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled,
sick, and elderly are
neglected. Period.
2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that's
interpreted as "I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all." This is
not the case.
I'm fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare
system would require everyone to chip in, and that it's impossible to
create one
that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it
that makes "let people die because they can't afford healthcare" a
better alternative.
I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that
everyone should have access to it. And no, I'm not opposed to paying
higher taxes in the
name of making that happen.
3. I believe education should be affordable and accessible to
everyone. It doesn't necessarily have to be free (though it works in
other countries so I'm
mystified as to why it can't work in the US), but at the end of the
day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with
five- or six-figure
debt.
4. I don't believe your money should be taken from you and given to
people who don't want to work. I have literally never encountered
anyone who believes
this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a
handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there
are people
literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they
can't afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs,
universal healthcare,
affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share
would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow in some minds,
believing that makes me a communist.
5. I don't throw around "I'm willing to pay higher taxes" lightly. I'm
retired and on a fixed income, but I still pay taxes. If I'm
suggesting something
that involves paying more, well, it's because I'm fine with paying my
share as long as it's actually going to something besides lining
corporate pockets
or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.
6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a
decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting
burger flippers
to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it
actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs
just to keep
their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on
tips, multibillion dollar companies should not have employees on food
stamps, workers
shouldn't have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make
ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40
hours and live.
7. I am an Agnostic, but I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to
stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the
Bible, to forbid prayer in school,
etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in
school is - and should be - illegal). All I ask is that Christians
recognize *my* right
to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a
politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I'm not
"offended by Christianity"
-- I'm offended that you're trying to force me to live by your
religion's rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of
Muslims imposing Sharia
law on you? That's how I feel about Christians trying to impose
biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don't force it
on me or mine.
8. I don't believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I
just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.
9. I don't believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have
the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN'T WHAT THEY DO
(spoiler: undocumented
immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they're supposed to
be abusing, and if they're "stealing" your job it's because your
employer is hiring
illegally). I'm not opposed to deporting people who are here
illegally, but I believe there are far more humane ways to handle
undocumented immigration
than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up
families, ending DACA, etc).
10. I don't believe the government should regulate everything, but
since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED
regulations to prevent cut
corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe
materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It's not that
I want the government's
hands in everything -- I just don't trust people trying to make money
to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the
government
devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in
place, consumers have recourse if they're harmed and companies are
liable for medical
bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common
sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting
companies bring their
bottom line into the equation.
11. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I
dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I've
spent too many
years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the
similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis,
but because things are
actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.
12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much
worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed.
Which means
those with privilege -- white, straight, male, economic, etc. -- need
to start listening, even if you don't like what you're hearing, so we
can start dismantling
everything that's causing people to be marginalized.
13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is
anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is sensible
policies, including
background checks, that just MIGHT save one person’s, perhaps a
toddler’s, life by the hand of someone who should not have a gun. (Got
another opinion?
Put it on your page, not mine).
14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think
it’s social politeness. If call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be
called Charles
I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because
everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it,
when we know better,
we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more
accurate/less hurtful than the one you're using, you now know better.
So why not do
better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?
15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering
education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can
change jobs. There are
too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal
and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.
16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of
human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work,
should have the
same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth
shouldn’t they be?
I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I'm a Progressive
because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn't mean
you should work 80
hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just
means I don't believe there is any scenario in which preventable
suffering is an acceptable
outcome as long as money is saved.
So, I'm a Progressive.
