Well said piece, Ramona. I'm with you 100% on all of it, as a fellow Liberal - a Kennedy Liberal, a Kerry Liberal. Much to the chagrin of many, I think Liberalism will stay the course long past our time.
💥 Boom and mic drop! All of this is what I would like to say (straight faced) to my "all too" Republican family. Luckily I live states away. I think the beauty and the curse of liberals is we work behind the scenes and do not shout enough from the top of the mountains!
Thank you for laying it all out there. We will always have work to do...
No lies detected. Nothing controversial in this piece. I'm tired of being treated like a bad person for caring about others and our society and our democracy.
Housekeeping: (1) We've been here before, Mona, and we're back: I didn't get this Constant Commoner in my inbox. I just went back and checked Spam, Trash, and Inbox. The last one I received was 12/31, your essay on using three names and the book you'll be writing. (2) I've made the same mistake, inadvertently forgetting to deselect the radio button relegating comments to paid subs only. In fact, in case you don't know -- if you get your post all situated, click the appropriate "For Everyone" buttons, but then go back and make one last edit, one or both of those buttons revert to the default setting. That's what happened to me. I'm still frosted about it.
Reflection: I don't know if it's the inherent cynicism of human nature, or fear of losing a place of status, but my take is that no one wants to believe that equity and kindness work. They're not not cunning enough. Not smart enough. Can't possibly work. But they do. They do!! And still, they're just :flaps arms: not enough!! No! We must have dominance. We must have war! We must have power!
It's exhausting. But we keep pressing forward, keep pressing forward, keep pressing forward. Thank you for being persistent. Thank you for knowing who you are.
Yes. Exactly. Liberals need to be fiercely assertive of their Liberalism, against the reactionary right and the "revolutionary" (or revolution-lite) totalitarian-inclined left that stole the label "Progressive." (Teddy Roosevelt was called a progressive!) They haven't always been that. The disdain of the further left for Liberals (NOT, as you say, small-L liberals as in "classical liberalism"), is at least as old as the Russian Revolution, when the Bolsheviks were greater enemies of Kerensky and the Liberally inclined Socialist Revolutionaries than were the Tsarists. Though there will be practical alliances, current progressives do not share important fundamental values with Liberals and are not friends of Liberalism. Liberals need to be strong in their commitment to Liberalism. Like democracy, its the worst political philosophy we have, except for all the others.
Great piece. I especially appreciate the comments on WWII, and would love to know more about your experience living through it, if it's something you're interested in writing about.
Brava, once more❗️
You said it long ago.
You said it again & again.
You have said it well & truly.
All I can say is,
Yes, yep, ditto. 👍🏼
Well said piece, Ramona. I'm with you 100% on all of it, as a fellow Liberal - a Kennedy Liberal, a Kerry Liberal. Much to the chagrin of many, I think Liberalism will stay the course long past our time.
Oh my God, Ramona I so miss Matt Santos. From my vantage here in Canada 🇨🇦 my heart goes out to you.
Ramona
I didn’t see this post because for some reason I only get Writer Everlasting in my email and was unaware of this other Substack of yours
I only became aware of it because of your post today
I bet i am not alone in this
Best
David
💥 Boom and mic drop! All of this is what I would like to say (straight faced) to my "all too" Republican family. Luckily I live states away. I think the beauty and the curse of liberals is we work behind the scenes and do not shout enough from the top of the mountains!
Thank you for laying it all out there. We will always have work to do...
No lies detected. Nothing controversial in this piece. I'm tired of being treated like a bad person for caring about others and our society and our democracy.
Housekeeping: (1) We've been here before, Mona, and we're back: I didn't get this Constant Commoner in my inbox. I just went back and checked Spam, Trash, and Inbox. The last one I received was 12/31, your essay on using three names and the book you'll be writing. (2) I've made the same mistake, inadvertently forgetting to deselect the radio button relegating comments to paid subs only. In fact, in case you don't know -- if you get your post all situated, click the appropriate "For Everyone" buttons, but then go back and make one last edit, one or both of those buttons revert to the default setting. That's what happened to me. I'm still frosted about it.
Reflection: I don't know if it's the inherent cynicism of human nature, or fear of losing a place of status, but my take is that no one wants to believe that equity and kindness work. They're not not cunning enough. Not smart enough. Can't possibly work. But they do. They do!! And still, they're just :flaps arms: not enough!! No! We must have dominance. We must have war! We must have power!
It's exhausting. But we keep pressing forward, keep pressing forward, keep pressing forward. Thank you for being persistent. Thank you for knowing who you are.
This is so on target Ramona!✊🏼💙
Yes. Exactly. Liberals need to be fiercely assertive of their Liberalism, against the reactionary right and the "revolutionary" (or revolution-lite) totalitarian-inclined left that stole the label "Progressive." (Teddy Roosevelt was called a progressive!) They haven't always been that. The disdain of the further left for Liberals (NOT, as you say, small-L liberals as in "classical liberalism"), is at least as old as the Russian Revolution, when the Bolsheviks were greater enemies of Kerensky and the Liberally inclined Socialist Revolutionaries than were the Tsarists. Though there will be practical alliances, current progressives do not share important fundamental values with Liberals and are not friends of Liberalism. Liberals need to be strong in their commitment to Liberalism. Like democracy, its the worst political philosophy we have, except for all the others.
If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.
Great piece. I especially appreciate the comments on WWII, and would love to know more about your experience living through it, if it's something you're interested in writing about.
Been preaching this gospel for a LONG time! Thank you!
One In The Struggle
Written 1985 during Willie Nelson's Farm Aid projects
I am a farmer, I’m trying to grow some food
Locked in a system that don’t do me no good
They think I’m beneath them, like the dirt under my nails
I am a farmer, but my farm is up for sale
I am a worker making money for my boss
When times are good he profits, when they’re bad we take the loss
We’re treated like children: supervised all day
I’d quit in a minute, if I didn’t need the pay
And the bottom line is greed and the
Bottom line is ignorance
and the bottom line is fear and the
Bottom line is power
And the bottom line is here and now
I have to realize
We’re all in this together
In the struggle to survive
We are one in the fight
To take control of our lives
We are one in the struggle,
We are one
I’m unemployed now
My job has taken flight
To some far country,
Where the workers have no rights
I’m deep in debt now
My insurance has expired
My wife is pregnant,
Some days I feel so tired
I am a refugee,
My country is at war
It’s the same old story,
The rich against the poor
And the rich get fatter on the
Lies the poor are fed
When I speak the truth,
They put a price upon my head
And the bottom line is greed and the
Bottom line is ignorance
and the bottom line is fear and the
Bottom line is power
And the bottom line is here and now
I have to realize
We’re all in this together
In the struggle to survive
We are one in the fight
To take control of our lives
We are one in the struggle,
We are one
I am a senior, living the golden years–
The pride of the drug firms, they’re playing on my fears–
And they’re mining my pockets to line their own with gold–
I am a senior, some days I feel so old
I am an Indian
I am an African
I am a woman
I am a homeless one
And the bottom line is greed and the
Bottom line is ignorance
and the bottom line is fear and the
Bottom line is power
And the bottom line is here and now
I have to realize
We’re all in this together
In the struggle to survive
We are one in the fight
To take control of our lives
We are one in the struggle,
We are one
https://youtu.be/GkPuwO_5cyQ
Rah-Rah! Boo Yah!
Totally agree, Ramona!
When I was a young liberal, my dad called me a bleeding heart and a do-gooder. I said to him in my strongest, but respectful voice-clearly-
“You say that like it’s a bad thing! All I want to do is help people!” *It shut him up for once. 8-)