My daughter is a mere 25 years old and we have been carrying on discussions about what it means to be a Democrat. I just wanted to share some of it with you
-------------
Beth,
Thanks for the links. They were very informative and should help people understand what the HCR provides. There were certainly points in the links that I did not know. Of course, there is a huge difference between a written policy and the having that policy enacted.
Where I hang out at (democraticunderground.com) there is a definite split between what has become two schools of thought with regard to being a "real" democrat. The "new" democrats seem to have redefined the party further to the right than it was when I was a "new" democrat. The "old" democrats (me, I guess) still hold to the old axioms of the original party. Below is a quote from a genuine "old" democrat, John F. Kennedy. This is how he defines what it is to be a Liberal.
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." -JFK - July, 1960
I can' think of a better way to articulate how I personally feel about being a Democrat.
I was only 8 years old when JFK gave that speech. It was before any "political awareness" on my part. However, I recall his death and how I felt that we had lost someone very special.
I can recall my mom (your grandmother Lynne) getting me out of bed to watch the 11:00 o'clock news. Burned into my soul were the black and white images of blacks being attacked by German Shepards as they were being hosed down on the streets of Mississippi. Your grandmother wanted me to see an example of man's inhumanity to man. I never forgot those images. I suppose that it was at that moment that I started solidifying my "view of the world." I would forever be a person who fought for the under-represented, the poor, the homeless...those less fortunate than I.
As I mentioned to you on the phone, the political pendulum moves ever so slowly. It began its swing to the Right when Reagan took office. Back then, I didn't label myself as anything particular politically. However, one day someone told me that I was a "liberal." The next thing I learned was that being a liberal was "bad."
You see, I just had my life's view. I didn't know that it was a category, that it had a name, a label.
In 1980, we began this long road towards the Right. We have shifted so much over the years, that I am no longer considered a "moderate" democrat. Instead, most people these days would consider me on the far Left.
You are a "new" democrat. You have only known life after Reagan. We were shifting to the Right long before you became politically aware. Your political compass is different than mine. This is not necessarily a bad thing...it's just different. After all, political parties have shifted positions throughout our history. Who would have believed that it was the Democrats of the 1860's that wanted to preserve slavery, while the Republicans fought to abolish it. The only thing that does not change is change itself.
Yeah, I wish you "new" democrats would have taken to the streets when Bush was preparing for an illegal war. However, that did not happen. When I was a new democrat, an illegal and ill advised war was stopped by the shear energy of those that protested and fought in the streets. Times have changed.
I'll continue this in just a bit...
-Dad
Here is a good article that sort of addresses the issue of the "new" democratic party:
http://collegetimes.us/would-jfk-be-a-democrat-today/
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
