>>Valley Patriot>>
|
Another
Point of View
What
Liberal Really Means
Mark
Palermo
What does “liberal”
really mean?
The Eskimos are said to have a large number of words for
snow, but we have only one word for “liberal.”
Is the term too broad to have a specific meaning? Most
people would agree that all liberals are not the same and
that significant differences coexist underneath the left’s
ideological umbrella.
By taking this simple test in the privacy of your own
home, you can ascertain your ranking on a graduated scale
of leftist values. To find your score, give yourself 3
points if you strongly agree, 2 points if you somewhat
agree, 1 point if you moderately disagree and no points
if you strongly disagree. Match your numbers to the scale
at the bottom of this column.
1. Birth control and abortion services should be offered
to all schoolchildren upon demand, with or without
parental consent.
2. I resent my father and all father figures.
3. All people of color incarcerated in America’s
prisons are political prisoners and should be freed
immediately and unconditionally.
4. Conservatism is a pathological condition that arises
from strict upbringing and sexual repression.
5. Stalin wasn’t as bad as they say. The West’s
propaganda machine glossed over his good points.
6. There are limits to academic freedom on college
campuses because self-evident truths require no debate.
Columbus’ enslavement of indigenous peoples and the
systemic homophobia of western civilization are examples
of self evident truths. Students who question these
truths should be censured.
7. State and federal agencies have the right and duty to
oversee families. If privacy is a concern, then those who
have done nothing wrong have nothing to fear. It takes a
village to raise a child.
8. We could end poverty if the govern-ment would stop
funding war and just redis-tribute that money to the poor
and needy.
9. Some men are child molesters, which means that all men
are at least potential child molesters- and are not to be
trusted around children.
10. The paradigm of cultural materialism implies that
patriarchy has intrinsic mean-ing, but only if art is
distinct from language; otherwise, any contemporary
rubicon of semanticism is merely structural
discourse.
11. I could have gone farther in life but the capitalist
system held me back.
12. All paradigms are based on language. And since
language manifests the power of the oppressor, all
language is corrupt and should therefore be restructured
by experts who are trained to perceive and remediate
these biases.
13. He made mistakes, but Mao Tse-tung did an admirable
job with urban planning and birth control- and he
ended starvation in China.
14. Former U.S Surgeon General, Jocelyn Elders was
right about masturbation. It releases tension,
prevents pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and
should be taught in school.
15. The decision of whether or not to wear clothes in
public should be left to the individual –as it is in
Brattleboro, Vermont.
16. The family is a dysfunctional institution that should
be done away with. Social scientists using new knowledge
and the latest technologies can develop better forms of
social organization.
17. More and better designed state and federal programs
could rebuild America.
18. All heterosexual relationships are based on power and
are therefore a form of rape.
19. We need to re-educate youth away from the culture of
individuality and encourage their collective aspirations.
20. Neighborhood committees would be a great way to
deconstruct capitalist ideas about gender, race and the
environment
21. The government should institute an affirmative action
hiring program for gay people. Not to do so would be
taxation without representation.
22. All Americans should be screened for mental illness.
The government could then provide services and medication
for those who need them.
23. All guns should be outlawed except for police and
military.
24. The consumption of meat makes men more aggressive,
territorial and domineering.
25. Planned Parenthood does valuable humanitarian work
that supports parenthood.
26. All property is theft.
27. Sex education should begin in pre-school.
28. Capitalism is the greatest cause of alienation in the
world.
29. Instead of the patriarchy, it would be better if
women ran things.
30. The history of all hitherto existing society is the
history of class struggles.
HOW TO SCORE YOURSELF
87-90-Hillary’s Handmaidens
84-86 Maoist International
80-83 Postmodernist Thought Police
77-79 Campus Stalinist
74-76 Leninist
70-73 Trotskyite
66-69 Campus collectivist
63-65 New Deal liberal
59-62 Old hippie- financially destitute
55-58 1960’s liberal (JFK, RFK)
52-54 Trade unionist
48-51 Old hippie- financially secure
44-47 Moderate liberal
40-43 Conservative leaning liberal
35-39 Business-owning liberal
30-34 Liberal who has
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The November 2007
Edition of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 15,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
North Andover,
Methuen, Haverhill, Chelmsford, Georgetown, Groveland,
Boxford, Amesbury, Newburyport
Lawrence, Dracut, Tewksbury, Merrimack, Newburyport,
Westford, Acton, and Lowell.
Hampton & Salisbury Beach, (summers
only)
|
Valley Patriot Archive
Valley Patriot Story
ARCHIVES
Prior Lead
Stories
Prior
Valley Patriot Editorials
Prior Columns by ...
Tom Duggan
Dr. Chuck
Ormsby
Paula
Porten
Ralph
Wilbur
Hanna
Ted Tripp
Valley
Patriot of the Month
Griselsilva.com
Patrick
Blanchette
D.J.
Beauregard
Jim
Cassidy
D.J. Deeb
Marcos
Devers
Bob
Desmarais
Regina
Faticanti
Jim
Fiorentini
Bill Kelly
Wilfredo
Laboy
Peter
Larocque
Vilma Lora
Ed Maguire
Billy
Manzi
Paul
Murano
Mark
Palermo
Hartley
Pleshaw
Debbie
Quinn
Raise Em
Right
Dr. Peary
Kathleen
Corey Rahme
Barney
Reilly
Angel
Rivera
Jim Rurak
Grisel
Silva
Mike
Sullivan
Sandra
Stotsky
Mike
Sweeney
Ken Willette
Scott Wood
Jim
Xenakis
|
