Joseph L. Kagle, Jr. Essays

Two Sides to the Same Coin: Liberal and Conservative

George Orwell was correct. If you write the history, you can make it anything that you profess it to be. This is true today with two words in the political realm: liberal and conservative. Maybe in our democracy, we should revisit an important source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. I know that this is a radical and liberal action, although I truly see it as conservative since I am conserving the true meanings of these two words, not the spin that makes “liberal” the action of the devils of the left and “conservative” blessed by the angels of the right. 

LIBERAL: 1)having, expressing or following social or political views or policies that favor non-revolutionary progress or reform; 2) following views or policies that favor the freedom of individuals to act or express themselves in a manner of their own choosing; 3) of, relating to, or characteristic of representative forms of government; 4) tolerant of the ideas or behavior of others: and 5) tending to give freely, generous.

CONSERVATIVE: 1)tending to favor the preservation of the existing order and to regard proposals for change or innovation with distrust; 2) moderate, prudent, cautious; 3) traditional in manner or style, not showy; and 4) tending to conserve.

As one of my favorite characters on Saturday Night Live might say, “Excuse me, but I do not see anywhere in those definitions any leaning toward a word being right or evil.” Without liberal, we would not have black men and women free as Americans. We would not have such liberating pursuits as the Peace Corp or exchanging ideas through the Fulbright grants. Women would still be without a vote. Children would still be working in sweat shops. We would close our borders to anyone who thinks differently than US or has a different religion than US or a different ethnic background than US. We would not give money to the states to build roads, bridges, highways or dams. We would not have public schools. We all came from someplace else to create a liberal and conservative government. Even the American Indians are immigrants across the “rainbow bridge” from China and they are true conservatives in their style of life. On the other side, without conservative thought, America would not have national parks, would not conserve a belief in but separation of church and state, and would not balance our budgets in times of need. Liberal and conservative are two sides to the same coin.

Many of us are flaming liberals in programs without knowing it. We want public education and free speech. We demand accountability from our representatives in government (not just labeling things as “conservative” or “liberal”) and we want to be served by those we elect. At the same time, we want to conserve values which have been passed down through the ages, like the “golden rule”, manners and helping others in need. When we have surpluses, we should be a liberal nation in our thinking and programs. In times of need, we should be conservative.  We should conserve and fight for some values and when there is a dispute between two conflicting values we can exercise our free speech (conservative or liberal, whichever fits the case and time, but not distort our language). I am a liberal. I want programs for those who have less than me, who are less fortunate and have not had the opportunities that I have enjoyed in this best of nations. I am a conservative. I want to conserve my money as much as I can when the stock market seems to be in flux. Some days I am conservative and liberal in the same action or case, making minute by minute changes.

It is time that we take back the English language and restore the true meaning of two “redefined” words that the Jerrys have colored: Jerry Springer and Jerry Falwell. Our politics have always been “golden section” or “golden mean” (that is, not far right or far left but middle of the road). It is time again to revisit a little-used book: the dictionary.

In the search for peace, we need to be liberal and conservative. Not as opposite, but as styles of action which we can put on like hats when the occasion demands a certain solution and activity.