What is a Liberal?

Image by Lincolnian (Brian) via Flickr

The term "Liberal" has many meanings. I would like to examine how it became to mean a 'left' political term.

In all recorded history people would form groups. One man would become the "alpha" male and one woman would become the "alpha" woman. From these two people all the descending levels of hierarchy would form. The larger the group the more levels. And as the Alpha male and female became old or died, other males and females would attempt to overthrow the Alpha male and female. OK this is fact.

Let's move along to the beginning of civilizations. From the beginning, these civilizations were built on similar hierarchy with levels of "upper class" the land owners and whose power came form the Alpha male - the newly forming middle class made up of merchants, tradespeople, farmers and artisans - and the rest of the people made up of house servants, slaves and beggars. OK there will be particular people that do not fall into one of these categories. But they are for the most part one-of-a-kind people. We are interested in generalized groups and classes of people. Were there any Liberals in this group? Probably not. Were there people who opposed the people in power? Probably yes.

Can we fix a label on those people who opposed the people above them in power, money or status. In my opinion - no.

Now let's move to around 1200 AD in England. There was a growing number of higher level, land-owners who were beginning to feel like they "deserved more latitude" in their lives and resented tithing to the king. This then, in my opinion, was a group of people who were the grandchildren who fought to gain their position. These newly rich, without having to sacrifice for their riches, were beginning to demand a bit of independence from the king. In fact, they banded together to force the King of England to sign the "Magna Carta" which guaranteed certain liberties to these grandchildren. Everyone should read the document. Go here to read it ... http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html


This document set in motion the beginning of Liberalism. You are encouraged to comment on this after reading the document.

Nothing much changed until the Revolution Was between the Colonies and England. And by then, there were many Liberals who voiced their opposing opinion to independence. Yep, even back then, there were Liberals who wanted to be taken care of and not upset the apple cart for a better cause. Mostly these Liberals were well-off merchants with more to lose financially from war then to keep the 'status-quo'. Those persons who felt 'put-upon' and taken advantage of by the King of England wanted independence. So how would you define Liberal at this time period?

This class warfare would continue until today. How do you define Liberals today? Well there are no Liberals in the foxhole - at least live ones. Therefore, there are no Liberals in the active armed forces. Yes many persons in the armed forces have various ideas. But when you interview returning soldiers, you get a sense they understand why we are fighting a war today.

So that brings us to the people at home. Maybe they can define what it means to be Liberal. They say Liberal people are for helping other people. BUT Conservatives out-give charity six to one versus the Liberal population.
SO that can't be how to define Liberals.

What about religion. Seems to me that more Conservatives are church going that Liberals. The popular movement for Liberals today is to remove GOD from the populace. To me, religion should never be included in politics but it is a fact of today's political climate. To me Church and State should never mix. But I digress.

Liberals, to me, seem to be made up of several groups. The obvious group is those persons wanting a hand-out and never willing to sacrifice for the charity given to them. There are third generation families on welfare producing babies at an alarming rate. WHY? In there own words: "I tried working but why spend 40 hours a week plus commuting time when I can get more money from welfare by doing nothing." YES, Those are the exact words from an interview shown on TV a while back on several news programs.

Then there are the young people who though they may be intelligent, do not have a fully formed brain. That's a medical fact. People's brains are fully developed from age 24 to 28 and not sooner. People younger that 24 just do not have the ability to evaluate life in the same way as people in their 40's and older. So these younger people are idealistic. And many of them are stubborn so when the age, they continue to maintain their 'value-system' well into their senior years.

How does that account for the millions f Liberals who are working and living basically a 'normal' life. My opinion is that they are from mostly working class stock - semi-professional - trades - businesspeople. Can you imagine a 45 year old union worker who owes his entire life-style to the ability of a union to maintain his employment voting against the union. Never! That is why the unions today are demanding that we get rid of one of our basic "Rights" by eliminating the secret ballot. That way union people can make life hell for anyone who votes against the union. Self-serving? You bet!

But unions do have a place in today's world. It's just that senior management just keeps sucking way to much salary for the little work they preform. In my opinion, if there was a cap between the highest officer of any company with union members and the highest union paid worker, that would go a long way towards resolving the differences between management and workers. And to me that means more reduction in senior management's pay than raising worker's pay. After all there is a profit that at the end of the day needs to be made to keep the business going.

So how do we define Liberals today? They are mostly unemployed, low wage earners, under-educated with a mix of over-educated professors who have never experienced anything in the workplace, the young people and the grandchildren of people who have a comfortable life for their family and descendants.

What do you think?

Next topic - What is a Conservative

And that's the way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford

TEA PARTY SUCCESSES

TODAY WE ARE WITNESSING what happened in the mid-1800's when a new party called the Republicans put up an unknown candidate - Abraham Lincoln.

The TEA PARTY is now doing exactly the same thing on mostly the same issue. Smaller government and states rights. It's time the Republican party joined forces with the TEA PARTY to win over congress. Then congress can pass as many bills without any Democrats. Then congress can rescind the obama health care law and bring spending back to 2008 levels.

Heck - any manager can wring out 5% or 10% or even 15% or waste in their budget. Cut the fat. Reduce the government employee roles. Keep taxes at the same level as today. And they can do this without any reduction in
services.

OK some pet projects will be placed on hold. And some companies that do business with the government will lose revenue for a year or two. BUT the majority of government job reduction will reduce the obama patronage job bloating - a common way to maintain power in Chicago, IL.

By reducing jobs and rescinding and re-working the health care package, the United States can again get it's financial house in order. And that will be good for everyone - not just the Democrats who took bribes for their votes.

And that's the way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford

Jobs - Jobs - Where are the Jobs ?

The statistics show 9.6% unemployed. That number is unreal. My figure is more like 18% to 19%. Consider all the people who have run out of benefits. They are not figured in the unemployment figures. And people who lost great jobs are now in significantly lower paying jobs. Net result = low disposable income. With consumer sales driving one-third of our economy, this is a road to ruin.

So where are the jobs? For a quick answer look in your driveway. Is the car an American car? Come on people, if we stop buying American cars, the three car companies will go out of business. There has to be an American car choice for every foreign car available. Only snobbery is driving the foreign car market. The lose of sales in American cars is directly related to the loss of jobs. And for every car manufacturing job lost, 5 additional job -at least- are lost in supporting the car companies.

Where are jobs? They have been transferred to lower wage countries. First it was Mexico. Then Mexicans began complaining that their jobs were being transferred to China. Sure Chine has gained big time in all this transferring of jobs. But now the Chinese are complaining that their jobs are moving to Indonesia or India. Don't look away too fast. Africa is a huge source of possible low wage workers.

So where are the jobs. Back in the Clinton Presidency, he signed a bill to limit or dissolve tariffs between nations and for world wide free trade. Then our congress did nothing to create an extra tax burden on US based corporations that transfer their manufacturing operations out of the USA.

So where are the jobs? They have been exported to low wage countries.

We need to figure out how to create jobs in America. There is a sneaker company in the east coast that makes all its gym shoes in the USA. I am looking for the name of that company and I will then only buy my sneakers from that company. I strongly urge all Americans to support that company. I will identify that company's name later so you might support their products. They are competitive in style, function and price. ONLY snobbery will drive Americans to buy sneakers made in foreign countries. Look for that company name in my next blog.

Next time you buy anything, check for the "Made in _______" label. And buy an alternative product that says: "MADE IN THE USA."

And that's they way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford

September 11th - Never Forget

Today I remember the 3000+ innocent people who died at the hands of terrorists muslims.

Imagine for a moment the wind rushing past you and the floors crashing down on you as you try to escape from the falling World Trade Centers Towers. You can only go so fast because there are thousands of people all trying to escape at the same time. Thousands will get out and thousands will not.

This is the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor. And this attack must be avenged with the death of every terrorist in all the world or we will never be safe!

They say forgiveness relieves the soul. BUT I SAY "NEVER FORGET". Keep being angry. Keep focused on killing every last terrorists everywhere. Someday, one terrorist might explode him/herself in the midst of a crowd that you or your loved ones are in. You or they will die a horrible death and those who are affected by your loss will suffer for the rest of their lives.

E-mail me at JayClifford@att.net for a JPG you will want to have - there is no charge - virus free.

Never Forget - they attacked us - we are at war!

And that's the way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford

September 11, a day that lives in infamy

When I think of September 11th, I remember the shock that the entire country felt. The moment when Every Citizen wanted to strike back as one. When everyone felt they were attacked as a nation. The days lingered on and the smoke finally cleared. We were angry. And that anger still persists today but not as much as it should.

When I hear that the muslims want to build a mosque in a building that the landing gear of one of the planes that crashed into the twin towers fell through the roof, I get angry all over again. It's not just the families that are insulted by the idea of building the muslim mosque ON GROUND ZERO, it's everyone who remembers the horrible shock that the United States of America was attacked in a cowardly way.

And the name of the mosque shows that they are using the mosque as a symbol of victory over the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. muslims alway build a mosque on the grounds of their victories. Look at Jerusalem. Look at Spain. Look at Turkey. All have mosques build on the site of their victories. Now they want to build a mosque on GROUND ZERO. I say never. And all citizens must understand what they are trying to do. The muslims are trying to change the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA INTO A MUSLIM TYPE COUNTRY WITH MUSLIM RULES AND TRADITIONS.

One group in particular should be shouting from everywhere and demanding that muslims learn to stop being cowardly chauvinists and allow women the identical freedom that men have. Isn't there a women's organization that stands for women's freedom? Why are they so quiet. Quiet will bring problems. You need to be shouting at all yourt congresspersons and telling them how you feel anoub muslim ways

Terrorists are by definition cowards. They strike from ambush. They slaughter innocents for mass effect. Terrorists need to be eliminated not jailed. They need to be hunted down like the dogs they are and killed anyway we can kill them and then bury them under their shoes.

I for one cannot understand why the unions do not stand up and say they will not block the building of a muslim mosque anywhere near GROUND ZERO.. The unions have the power. They can block any project they set out to block. Union membership needs to stand up as one and denounce the building of this mosque.

When the USA was attacked in Pearl Harbor in 1941, the nation rose to fight the enemy. We have an enemy now. It's called el quida and the government of iran. And if we have to kill others that are being used to protect the terrorists, then that is the price those people pay for not finding a way to tell the USA that the enemy is in their homes or villages. Sometimes in WAR --- and make do doubt that we are at war --- innocent people get killed. And we justify that by making sure that we kill every last terrorists.

The world cannot live in peace as long as there are terrorists. And SEPTEMBER 11TH IS A calling cry to avenge the attack on the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

And that's the way I see it...
Straight talk with Jay Clifford.

obama's legacy

Nineteen months ago obama said it was Bush's deficit. But did we hear that President Bush had a Democrat congress. And only by compromising did President Bush get any law or budget past. Then, so the Bush deficit really was a Democratic deficit under a Democratic pelosi-reed congress. And the deficit nineteen months ago had quadrupled under the Democratic congress and obama.

Why does obama still blame the Bush Presidency for the problems his party created for the last 9.7 years?

Isn't it time for the no-action President to step up to the plate and forget about race, bribing congresspersons to get their votes and socialism and think how he can best serve ALL the citizens of the USA instead of offending our allies and bowing to a muslim thug-king???

The next two years with a obama President and a Republican congress will provide for grid-lock. And that's good. Just like the grid-lock under President Clinton, no more wasteful and pork spending will be passed into law. The congress will pass a bill and obama will veto it. That is the best news yet. Then the business people will think that they can start to plan for their growth instead of hoarding the cash and afraid of hiring anyone because of the terrifying possibilities that could come from a Democratic congress and a Democratic Presidency.

And that's the way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford