keep... hope... alive!

from PBS, some words of inspiration from the 1988 Democratic Convention:

> Wherever you are tonight, you can make it. Hold your
> head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It
> gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. Don't you
> surrender. Suffering breeds character, character breeds
> faith. In the end faith will not disappoint.
>
> You must not surrender. You may or may not get there
> but just know that you're qualified. And you hold on,
> and hold out. We must never surrender. America will get
> better and better.
>
> Keep hope alive. (Applause) Keep hope alive. (Applause)
> Keep hope alive.

With domestic issues next on the debate agenda, I looked for a refresher on what "Liberal" values are and found this speech. Some of it is dated and not borne out by history, but many things resonate. Especially the sense of "we can do better for America". Also, the innate belief that the government we all pay for should work for us and help those in need. The government is our party - we invite the guests who cash our checks and decide how to spend them.

I think this speech goes to the heart of what it means to be a liberal in America. Is it excessive? In places, yes. But I think it's time for us to reclaim the "L" word. Our values are the values of our founding fathers, indeed, of our entire history: tolerance, equality, and justice for all. Self-reliance is all well and good on the frontier or in the boardroom, but we, America, are at our best when we are a community of common interests.

From dictionary.com:

> lib•er•al
> adj.
> 1. a. Not limited to or by established, traditional,
> orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas;
> free from bigotry.
> b. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas
> for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of
> others; broad-minded.

Do I think there are things that business does better and more efficiently than government? Sure, but I also think there are things which the government should do that are in direct opposition to the interests of the free market. The free market is infallible. Infallibly cruel and unflinching. The free market enables Big Pharma and Big Healthcare to reap immense and obscene profits while imposing an unfair and immoral burden on working families, the elderly and the infirmed. The free market is consolidation and vertical integration. The free market is the absurd inequities of corporate compensation. The free market is busted unions, disappearing benefits, and outsourcing. The free market is environmental exploitation.

As liberals, we believe that the many should not suffer so that a only a few are rewarded. Call it Socialism if you want, but it is not. I am not talking about collective ownership. I am talking about collective interest. If we all have a stake and we all have a value, then we all have an interest in making it work.

This is the definition others prefer to pin on us:

> 2. a. Tending to give freely; generous: a liberal
> benefactor.
> b. Generous in amount; ample: a liberal serving of
> potatoes.

This second definition sounds more like the current administration, generously giving away our treasury to their corporate pals, amply providing tax breaks and bailouts to maximize shareholder value and minimize human values of loyalty and responsibility:

"Step right up, we've got ample natural resources, folks, just keep consuming and buying Hummers and everything will be OK. Here's $600! Go spend it! Doesn't matter what you buy, just go out and buy. Oh, and by the way, it's coming out of your retirement benefits."

Yep, that's them alright. "... a liberal serving of potatoes." Filling, but not very nutritious... and some of them couldn't even spell "potatoes".

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