Liberalism Explained

In my search to understand the liberal philosophy beyond "no justice no peace" and "bread not bombs" (and believe me, to get beyond this takes some searching), I find this. Finally, the liberal point of view laid out in terms I can understand.

It begins:

They're staging a celebration of their power in Washington, DC, where they help write the majority of legislation and hold captive all but a very few of our nation's legislators. The television networks they own are showing the party in all its pomp and ceremony. The newspapers and magazines they own are telling us what a fine time is being had by all in Washington, DC. The radio stations, networks, and talk show hosts they own are reassuring us that they know what is best, that all will be well, that "freedom is on the march."

According to this, the Republicans "hold captive" all the legislators and "own" all the media. Forget the fact that the democrats held the House all of my life and the Senate most of it, and the Republican majority today is tenuous. And never mind that all of MSM spouts liberal orthodoxy on a daily basis.

But yearning to understand liberalism beyond this, which are views you can hear in any liberal protest march, I believe comes down to this:

Today's real battles in Washington, DC, and in state capitols across the nation are not just about privatizing Social Security, or turning Medicare into a feeding trough for the big pharmaceutical and insurance companies. They're not only about drilling for oil in the Arctic while refusing to increase fuel efficiency standards for cars, doing away with the $100,000 tax break for purchasers of SUVs, or opening millions of acres of wild lands to loggers, miners, and developers.They're not even about Bush putting one of the nation's worst polluters in charge of the Department of Energy, an insurance-industry mogul in charge of HHS and its Medicare program, or his appointing the former assistant director of the Cato Institute's Project on Social Security Privatization as Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy at the Social Security Administration. These are just symptoms. Today's real battles in the halls of government are about the survival of democracy itself.

It seems to me that the liberals fear the power of government falling in the wrong hands. My view, and I believe it to be the view of most conservatives and surely all libertarians, is that governmental power corrupts absolutely. We are not concerned about turning the Medicare program into a feeding trough, for that is what it is by it's nature. It is only a question of who is feeding at the time. We don't believe the government should mandate fuel efficiency standards at all, that the government should do any social engineering through the tax code, or that it should be up to the government to decide for what purpose property is used.

Thank you, Thom Hartmann, for explaining that to me so eloquently. And thank you, Barry Fockler, for the post. It has earned you a link on the blogroll here at No Monkeyshine, for all that will bring you.

Update: For a look into liberalism's arrogance, check out this post on the food police:

Stressing weight loss also avoids the much harder job of telling Americans the truth about specifically what not to eat. The government's recommendations only tell part of the story; the politically expedient part. Under the heading of "Food Groups to Encourage," are fruits, vegetables and whole grains, foods that most Americans desperately need to increase. Trouble is, many of those same Americans don't even know what a whole grain is or where to find one.[emphasis mine]

You poor, dumb peasants.