Being Liberal is a good thing .

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." Once again we turn to George Orwell to understand the need of some among us to reverse the meaning of words. As the author of 1984 knew, totalitarianism begins with the perversion of language. It is not accidental that the rise of the new right began with demonization of perfectly sound words like "liberal". These are some synonyms for liberal: magnanimous; benevolent; open-minded; generous; and unselfish.

We describe our form of government as liberal democracy. It has the principles of freedom, liberty, equality, and justice. Its principles were set forth by John Locke and written in our Bill of Rights. We engage in wars to bring this same government to others or we did in WWI or WWII.

It is understandable that the far-right supporters begin by perverting language. They are profoundly anti-liberal in every sense of the word. The values of magnanimity, benevolence, open-mindedness, generosity, and unselfishness are foreign to them. Nor is it coincidence that the age of anti-liberalism is one that is anti-scientific, whether having to do with our evolution, changing climate, or stem cell research. Totalitarianism has always wanted to control science for its own purposes.
If we restore the true meaning of important words like "liberal," perhaps at least a few politicians will not be afraid to use them. As a free man, and a liberal man, I know I am not. Being Liberal is a good thing not bad.