[Vision2020] "Leftist" Misused Term

[Donovan Arnold]

"Conservative" and "liberal" are relative terms to the society and times a 
person is living in.

There is a saying, "Today's liberal is tomorrow's conservative".

"Progressive" I think is a much better and appropriate term to use. Was the 
person progressive in the development of human and societal rights or a 
protector of the status quo of the time? Kennedy, MLK Jr., Jefferson, Dolly 
Madison, Harriet Tubbman, Teddy Roosevelt and JFK may be either conservative 
or liberal depending on what year you place them, but they were all 
progressives. I think all people we look up to now, were not defenders of 
the status quo, but progressives, including the men that many conservatives 
admire today.

I consider myself a pragmatic progressive. That means I think we must 
practice the methods that give people the most choice and freedom but it 
must also work in reality, not just theory.

I think some of you are confused in the thinking that liberal and 
conservatives agree in their extremes in ideology, they only agree in action 
or practice.

For example; both extreme liberals and conservatives agree with stopping 
trade with China, but not for the same reasons. Conservatives want to stop 
trade for the protection of US jobs (as though US jobs would not go another 
asian country if they stopped trade with China). Liberals want to stop trade 
with China because of poor working conditions (as if removing all sources of 
revenue and trade would improve human conditions in that country).

So the extremes meet, but only in practice, not in ideology.  In practice, 
or in reality, their objectives would not be achieved. If trade stopped with 
China, US production would go to another poor nation that has a poor human 
rights record and the Chinese would be even poorer and living in worse 
conditions without jobs.

The solution is to require a portion of profits from imports to go to 
improving working conditions of foreign workers. That would be a pragmatic 
progressive solution to the problem.

Take Care,

Donovan J Arnold
Political Science, B.S.


>From: "Kai Eiselein" <editor at lataheagle.com>
>To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: [Vision2020] "Leftist" Misused Term
>Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 15:50:43 -0800
>
>I learned the same thing in high school. Go far enough either direction and
>the two sides become nearly the same.
>The republicans of today would have made good democrats a few decades ago.
>Kennedy was conservative compared to today's democrats.
>Just look how close he brought us to the brink of a nuke-fest with Russia,
>the Bay of Pigs thing and that little coflict in S.E. Asia that we took 
>over
>from France.
>"...we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any
>friend, oppose any foe, to insure the survival and the success of liberty."
>JFK January 20, 1961
>Does that sound like a modern democrat?
>
>Kai T. Eiselein
>Editor
>Latah Eagle
>521 S. Jackson St.
>Moscow, ID 83843
>(208) 882-0666 Fax (208) 882-0130
>editor at lataheagle.com
>
>
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