Liberal? Maybe.

For the longest, I avoided the term "liberal" (and other terms like it) like the plague. With the term comes a list of preconceived notions that serve to either immediately inspire or repulse. I wanted to be judged based on my own personal list of views, not some pre-organized list of ideas that are associated with all "liberals".

Another reason I didn't like the term is that once a person attaches a label to himself, he might begin to find ways to confirm that label. He might think, A is something that a "liberal" does, so maybe I should be doing A. I certainly didn't want to fall into that. I want my actions and ideas to be grounded in reason and justice, not a label.

But then I began to think about what makes one a liberal.

A "liberal", generally, is a person who promotes individual rights; that is, the right for any person to pursue happiness in whichever way they see fit, so long as they do not infringe upon another person's right to do the same. This translates politically to supporting a government that builds a framework through which these individual rights can be successfully pursued.

According to this definition, liberalism--by definition--is reasonable and just. The idea that all people should receive equal treatment and equal opportunity for happiness is, if I'm not mistaken, the definition of justice. This is why liberals support things like universal health care, and gay marriage. Nearly fifty million Americans are set back from pursuing a happiness equal to the rest due to their lack of health insurance. Homosexuals in most states are set back from pursuing the same happiness that marriage provides due to discriminant laws. Liberals believe that the government should make the pursuit of happiness an equally attainable accomplishment for all Americans.

Basically, the government should be reasonable and just.

So, I will continue to base my ideas and actions on reason and justice. Does that make me a liberal? Maybe.

"If by a 'Liberal' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a 'Liberal,' then I'm proud to say I'm a 'Liberal.'

^{--John F. Kennedy}