http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/8/20/894844/-The-Left-Leads-the-Way One Pissed Off Liberal's diary
Vietnam. We said it was about the CIA and the war-profiteers they served. We were right.
Our government lying to the American people. We said they did it often and without compunction, and we said it way before it became obvious to everyone.
Nixon being a crook. Reagan being a wolf in sheep's clothing. Trickle-down being tinkle-on. George W. Bush being an unmitigated disaster for America. Government spying on ordinary citizens. The unsustainability of "the American way of life." "The American way of life," being code for the ruthless rule of the greedheads and fat cats. The dangers of deregulation. The reality of our ongoing ecocide. The Wall Street house of cards. The ever worsening plight of the poor and disenfranchised. The bone-deep corruption in our government. The hostile intent of the republicans. The betrayals of democrats. Peak oil. The ecology movement. The organic food movement. Coops. Permaculture. The tragic consequences of not prosecuting torture and other grave crimes committed at the top echelons of society. The fact that our elected officials don't give a fuck about any of us. All of these realizations originated on the left or from those who inform them, such as the world's scientists. And virtually all scientists are liberals. Ever wonder why that is? Is it because they were brainwashed in college by the vast left-wing conspiracy? No, it's because they are smart and know how to think critically. So all these people ragging on the left or bragging about how far left they are not, need to wake up in my very humble opinion.
Why-Liberals-Matter-More
As a member of the 'professional' left, do I want the pentagon to be abolished? No. but I do want it to be demoted. I do not want it to be in charge of our nation – to the point that it tells presidents what to do, sucks up the lion's share of the national wealth and is taken seriously when it proposes raiding social security to pay for idiotic and unjust wars. I don't want to get rid of the military. I want it smaller and saner and to be used much more judiciously. I want these bogus wars ended ASAP – and I don't mean pretend ended, I mean seriously ended. I want that money spent on real problems. I want America to live up to its promise. I want our country to be the world's leading peacemaker. I want our sons and daughters to have a reasonable future.
It's probably unlikely that the left will ever get the respect it deserves. Too many people find the prospect of change jarring, inconvenient or frightening – even when the profound need for it is so blatantly obvious. Being the vanguard of change in a hopelessly conservative society is probably never going to be easy. If only more people would leave their conservative comfort zone and embrace their inner leftist...but I guess that's asking a lot. Change is scary.
Without union organizers, activists and movement leaders from the left, people like Mother Jones, Joe Hill, Eugene V. Debs, Martin Luther King Jr, I.F. Stone, Cesar Chavez and countless others, we'd have no weekends, paid vacation, sick days, overtime, a minimum wage, company-paid insurance, on-the-job safety regulations, and on and on this list could go. Virtually every good thing ordinary Americans have they owe to the bitter struggle on the left. The left fought for everything we've got. We have now lost much of that, and are losing the rest of it at an accelerating rate thanks to centrists and moderates whose lack of commitment and clarity serve only to empower the minority right wing, the plutocrats, kleptocrats and neocons.
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