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Parnassus, v.1, issue 1, 1940s
Page 12
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[cursive] A NOTE ON LIBERALS by Art Saha Quite a few individuals in the world today seem to consider it extremely advantageous and expedient to be known as liberals. Now what exactly is a person who calls himself a liberal implying by the term? Liberal --- one who advocates and desires greater freedom of thought and action, particularly in political and social fields. In other words, one who desires a better world. "Well, what's wrong with that," one may observe. Nothing. But simply desiring a better world gives no assurance that such a world can actually be achieved. One should be willing to do a little more than merely ardently wishing for a better world; he should be ready to fight for his beliefs. Let us examine some of the characteristics of the liberal, omitting such self-styled liberals as Westbrook Pegler, etc., and referring only to those who have by their words and actions shown themselves to be what is commonly thought of as being possessors of liberal ideology. When a person is referred to as a liberal, it is generally accepted that he supports all manner of progressive and social legislation brought up in Congress and elsewhere. "A liberal admits evils in the state, but declining to see it as an instrument of class rule, seeks only to reform this or that particular feature or shortcoming of it, while keeping the structure intact." This is one of the main characteristics of the so-called liberal thinker. He very fervently desires to reform some of the bad features of the system, but never at the expense of the system itself. This is where the difficulties arise. The liberal just doesn't seem to realize that in order to really attain a better world, he must completely alter the present system. A farmer destroying weeds in his garden knows that he must pull them up by the roots in order to really get rid of them. This is something the liberal never seems to have learned; he thinks that reforming certain aspects of our system, he can develop a better world. And how can he be expected to think otherwise? After all, he is a product of the existing system, and as such can hardly be asked to contribute anything to the destruction of that system. But, you may ask, radicals are also a product of the present system. Admittedly they are, but radicals are generally found in that class which derives no benefit from the system, and therefore have no sentimental attachment to it. Liberals on the other hand, generally come from the middle classes and think their interests are best served by a capitalist system. This of course is a false assumption, but the members of the middle class and of the intelligensia who have joined radical movements have discovered that their interests are best served by a system which is to the best interest of the majority, that is, the working class, rather than by a system which serves the selfish interests of a minority, the capitalist class. To put it very bluntly, liberals are those muddle-headed idealists who think they can bring about a better world and still keep the old. Another interesting feature of the liberal is his devotion to what he calls individualism -- independence of thought, so-called. The liberal apparently considers his individualism his most priceless possession. He says he wants to make up his own mind about every subject which comes up for serious consideration. Above all, he desires to study all sides of every issue, and then having studies both the pros and the cons, he tries to make up his mind accordingly. Too often the result is the total inability of the liberal to make up his mind at all. He is so busy "deciding" what his attitude toward a particular reform will be that all he does is hinder a real progressive change. Of course, a liberal can never be expected to join any
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[cursive] A NOTE ON LIBERALS by Art Saha Quite a few individuals in the world today seem to consider it extremely advantageous and expedient to be known as liberals. Now what exactly is a person who calls himself a liberal implying by the term? Liberal --- one who advocates and desires greater freedom of thought and action, particularly in political and social fields. In other words, one who desires a better world. "Well, what's wrong with that," one may observe. Nothing. But simply desiring a better world gives no assurance that such a world can actually be achieved. One should be willing to do a little more than merely ardently wishing for a better world; he should be ready to fight for his beliefs. Let us examine some of the characteristics of the liberal, omitting such self-styled liberals as Westbrook Pegler, etc., and referring only to those who have by their words and actions shown themselves to be what is commonly thought of as being possessors of liberal ideology. When a person is referred to as a liberal, it is generally accepted that he supports all manner of progressive and social legislation brought up in Congress and elsewhere. "A liberal admits evils in the state, but declining to see it as an instrument of class rule, seeks only to reform this or that particular feature or shortcoming of it, while keeping the structure intact." This is one of the main characteristics of the so-called liberal thinker. He very fervently desires to reform some of the bad features of the system, but never at the expense of the system itself. This is where the difficulties arise. The liberal just doesn't seem to realize that in order to really attain a better world, he must completely alter the present system. A farmer destroying weeds in his garden knows that he must pull them up by the roots in order to really get rid of them. This is something the liberal never seems to have learned; he thinks that reforming certain aspects of our system, he can develop a better world. And how can he be expected to think otherwise? After all, he is a product of the existing system, and as such can hardly be asked to contribute anything to the destruction of that system. But, you may ask, radicals are also a product of the present system. Admittedly they are, but radicals are generally found in that class which derives no benefit from the system, and therefore have no sentimental attachment to it. Liberals on the other hand, generally come from the middle classes and think their interests are best served by a capitalist system. This of course is a false assumption, but the members of the middle class and of the intelligensia who have joined radical movements have discovered that their interests are best served by a system which is to the best interest of the majority, that is, the working class, rather than by a system which serves the selfish interests of a minority, the capitalist class. To put it very bluntly, liberals are those muddle-headed idealists who think they can bring about a better world and still keep the old. Another interesting feature of the liberal is his devotion to what he calls individualism -- independence of thought, so-called. The liberal apparently considers his individualism his most priceless possession. He says he wants to make up his own mind about every subject which comes up for serious consideration. Above all, he desires to study all sides of every issue, and then having studies both the pros and the cons, he tries to make up his mind accordingly. Too often the result is the total inability of the liberal to make up his mind at all. He is so busy "deciding" what his attitude toward a particular reform will be that all he does is hinder a real progressive change. Of course, a liberal can never be expected to join any
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