Political Labels and Obfuscation

Let’s face it, Americans are hung up on labels; we seem only able to define ourselves in terms of labels.  Labels such as: Blogger, Cheese Head, Conservative, Hippie, Democrat, Independent, Jock, Liberal, Nerd, Pinko, Pragmatist, Progressive, Republican, Schmuck, Socialist, Writer; the list is endless.  Without labels it almost seems we could not communicate and that is a problem because once we identify with a label we stop thinking about its real meaning.  We, in effect, join a club that has a life long irrevocable membership, placing ourselves at the mercy of those who think they own the label.  Most of the time it is completely harmless, like when your child can only wear clothes made by OshKosh B'gosh or The Gap or Nike, or when you declare yourself to be a White Wine Drinker or Night Owl or Obsessive Compulsive.  Most of the time it is harmless, but sometimes it is harmful to ourselves our friends and our country; but we do it anyway.

Political labels rank high on my list of personal pet peeves.  I think political labels are bad for two reasons: They contribute to pigeon holing your political thinking and they are misused by political parties to disparage their rivals and confuse or mislead the electorate.

For example, most folks think they know the real meaning of certain labels like:

Liberalism – A political philosophy promoting the importance of liberty and equality.  Liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutions, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, capitalism, free trade, and the separation of church and state.

Conservatism -- A political philosophy that promotes maintaining the status quo. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, while others oppose modernism altogether and seek a return to the way things used to be.

Progressivism -- A political philosophy advocating changes and reforms. Progressivism is the opposite of Conservatism.

(Liberalism is not the opposite of Conservatism anymore than love is the opposite of hate.  Indifference is the opposite of both love and hate and, you can have Liberal Conservatives as well as Liberal Progressives.)

Therefore, using the definitions above it is difficult to understand why being called a Liberal is a bad thing or being called a Conservative is a good thing.  For me, progressivism seems the better choice for any society that seeks to evolve as a civilization.  The only philosophy that might be better is Liberal Progressivism.

But, the reality is that our political parties just love to obfuscate their intentions and beliefs by hiding behind misused terms or disparaging other quite desirable beliefs by misapplying labels.  Adding to the confusion is the media, a defacto co-conspirator to the electorate’s misunderstandings by not correcting or clarifying misused labels and terms.  And with the drop out rate in our high schools ever increasing, it won’t be too long before we will be sewing those labels to our underwear.  That’s the only way we will know who we are…even if we don’t know what the label means.  The Conservatives are counting on it; their favorite label for educated folk is Elitist.