why I'm a liberal.

I think maybe I shouldn't read facebook first thing in the morning, because maybe I take things too seriously. But, I was bummed when a friend posted a video of "talking to a liberal", not once or twice, but in at least three different places. Its a joke, but I think some people actually believe this stuff, and it sucks. I'm not a liberal because I'm a brainless twit who thinks that everything can be solved with puppies and rainbows and baskets of hugs. (I only wish they could... LOL.)  Just because I'm a earth loving, babywearing, breastfeeding, positive parenting mama, doesn't mean that I unintelligent or uninformed. It doesn't mean that I'm pandering for handouts.

Here's what it does mean.


I am a liberal:
Because I think America should still cry out, "Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free..."
Because Jesus told us to take care of the poor.
Because I think that everyone should be able to marry their one true love, no matter the sex of that person.
Because people who work 70 hours a week just to put food on their family's table shouldn't be put under by one bought of illness.
Because yes, there are some who are lazy or bad, and that's why they aren't wealthy, but they are the exception, not the rule and I don't feel like throwing everyone to the wolves to punish the few.
Because "I don’t believe life begins at conception and ends at birth." (source, great article, better then I can put it)
Because I think war should be a last resort, and that it shouldn't be a vehicle for impressing our ideals on other nations.


In no way, shape, or form am I saying that if you aren't a liberal, you don't believe these things. What I am saying, is that if you believe them too... then we have more in common then you might have thought, and that maybe we can find some middle ground. And if you do believe them, maybe you should look at who you are voting for, and what they are really pushing.


For the record, I'm a gainfully employed, fully insured member of society; who worked two, sometimes three jobs while attending school full time, in order to pay for my own bills, food, housing, and school supplies. I still have thousands in student loans. I have a mortgage on a house worth thousands less then what it was worth when we bought it, but we still have enough in savings to keep us going for just under a year if one of us lost a job, or five-ish months if both lost a job. We got their by skimping and saving, staying in and not going out to dinners or movies except for special occasions. We have no credit card debt.

I think all that has proven me responsible enough to chose my own religion, decide what happens to my own body, marry whomever I fall in love with. I think all that should make me want to give back to those who haven't been as fortunate as I have, those who work longer and harder for less, those whom I can help, without hurting myself. And that is why I'm a liberal.


I'll step off my soapbox now.