There are many movements and many trends at foot within the Democratic party, and even moreso within the whole liberal and leftist umbrella. Unfortunately, some of these movements are in stark contrast. There are a few things about some so-called Democrats that make me mad. Maybe I'm on the outside of the majority on some of these, but I still don't see why such divisive issues get treated the way that they do. The Republicans are able to stick together, even on issues that different factions disagree completely on. How can we remain true to ourselves but still support people who are too far to the right of us? I'd like to address that by stating a few of the issues that divide us and my thoughts on them.
Abortion Rights
Nobody other than a psychopath is "pro-abortion." We call ourselves "pro-choice" because we want to provide options for other people to make decisions in their lives. The odds that an abortion will ever affect my life personally are pretty slim. However, I do see the overall theme of what abortion rights are about. It is about the right of people to control their own lives. It is about personal responsibility and the chance to make a decision for yourself. Given the current rhetoric of the anti-choice movement, it's now even about saving lives.
Unfortunately, a vocal minority of the left seem to think that it's ok to give up on abortion rights, and that we should move on with more important things. I disagree on many levels. Firstly, I would say that these people underestimate the importance of personal rights. If abortion goes, so goes many other rights to privacy and personal choice that we can make. This is not just a pet issue for feminist groups, this could affect all of us. Secondly, this is not an issue where we should be willing to budge at all. It's a clear black and white issue, and not according to the lines the Republicans want to paint. You either believe that abortion could possibly be a choice that someone should be able to make at some point, or you believe that nobody should ever have that choice even if their life is in danger. The middle ground that some of you think you hold simply does not exist. There may be varying degrees of how pro-choice you are, but you have to be pro-choice, period. Also, this is an area where misinformation rules the day, so most people that are only moderately pro-choice or anti-choice can possibly be reached and become firmly pro-choice. We need to dispel the myths of the supposed epidemic of irresponsible teenage girls getting pregnant and viewing abortion as a simple solution with no more thought to it than getting a haircut. Reality does not fit with that right-wing view, and we have to teach people the truth.
Immigration
This is one where I hate to say it, but our country compares with Nazi Germany in some ways. Even those opposed to Hitler often were also critical of Jews. Some would find it reasonable to kick Jewish people out to make more jobs for "real Germans" and such. Unfortunately, too many on the left also blame the victims within the immigration debate, especially illegal immigrants.
This topic is one that the left is going to have to wake up on, because we are not firmly on the side of civil and human rights here. We need to treat every human being on the planet with dignity and the human rights protected by our constitution. The constitution doesn't just apply to American citizens (except for the portions that specifically say they do), but to all people that our government deals with. A non-citizen can not be held in prison indefinitely without a trial according to the constitution. Guantanamo is unconstitutional. Much of the immigration system we have is unconstitutional.
The only way to realistically approach any problems related to illegal immigration is to 1) get the facts first, of which the vast majority of people do not have, 2) to approach the problem by going after the actual roots of the problem, which I can promise you are our own problems and not those of other people, and 3) to rethink our stand on immigration with the perspective of freedom.
The answer to the immigration problem is not to restrict people or close the borders, but to allow more people in legally. The vast majority of illegal immigrants are good hard working people that want to come here to work, but our government makes immigration too expensive, time-consuming, and then ultimately denies entry to most people anyway even after they've spent hundreds or thousands of dollars and spent years trying to get in. Our immigration policy is racist and supported by large corporations that thrive off of what is essentially little more than slave labor. The redneck racist groups at the borders are fighting against the victims, not the actual bad guys. If you were to make legal immigration possible for people that want to come here, you will cut off the supply of illegally cheap and unregulated labor. The result would be a rise in prices of some things, but the growing pool of immigrants would also likely cause a boom in our economy. You simply can't have a growing economy when you are about to have a sharp drop off in the number of people living in the country like we will as the baby boomers die off. We have to allow for our economy to grow due to immigration.
In this area we have to learn the statistics and facts surrounding immigration. "Common knowledge" dictates that most illegal immigrants come here to work and then send all their money home, then after they get done working here they leave. Right? If you agree, then you are agreeing with a white supremacist talking point, and more importantly, a lie. I read a survey of illegal immigrants that indicates the vast majority would like to move here permanently and pursue citizenship. It follows that if they can move here legally, and then bring their families here legally, there wouldn't be anyone for them to send their money to in their home countries. That money would then remain inside our own economy and would be used to buy a house, cars, groceries, an HD TV, etc. We need to make immigration easier, and then make citizenship a path that people are strongly encouraged to follow. We want good people to come here, that is what this nation of immigrants is all about. For those of you that would also whine about there not being enough room in the country for more people, apparently you've never looked at a map. The vast majority of the country is unused, or used poorly. I'm not talking about wilderness areas or anything like that, I'm talking about everything else. We even have more farms than we need, how about some of these farmers out in the middle of nowhere that are growing crops at a loss pool their resources together and form a new town? There are plenty of things that we can do even if our population wasn't about to drop drastically.
Corporations
Corporations had not always existed in their current format, and the power and control that they got was a combination of legal mistakes and government corruption. I'd venture to say that corporate corruption is pretty much the main source of problems in this country, yet most people fail to understand it or even try to figure it out. I can trace almost every social, economic, or political problem back to corporate interference. This is no accident.
This is a huge long topic, and I won't go too deeply into it. However, it is not an exaggeration to say that corporations are a threat to our way of life and have been winning for years. They are a mix between feudalism, a dictatorship, and communism, and have the worst of all of them. They create a wealthy upper class of people who use their corporate control to support themselves at the expense of us all. It's not just talk when someone says that people are dying for Halliburton over in Iraq, it's true. It's not just propaganda when someone here writes a diary complaining about how kids in asia are dying by doing dangerous work for a factory that supports Walmart. Here's where we have to put our money where our hearts are. You must be corporate conscious, and you have to try to avoid shopping at places that contribute to bad things happening in the world. I personally don't shop at Walmart, I get my groceries from a mix between Whole Foods (which sells organics) and a local farmer's market. The farmer's market ends up being a whole lot cheaper than Walmart for fruits and vegetables, which should more than offset the tiny increase in the price of the meat you could buy at Whole Foods (which is much healthier and better tasting, by the way.) We have to make sure that we don't go out and buy an H2 and a house 50 miles away from work. Otherwise, we are buying too much gas and contributing to the shortage that raises prices. I am proud to live two miles from where I work, and drive a Corolla, which is pretty fuel efficient. It saves me money as well, because I don't waste it all on gas and buying a big stupid block vehicle.
We all like to talk about how we are anti-corporate corruption, but until we start living it, we are all hypocrites. To do this right, we need to work on getting good sources of information for people. The media should do this job, but they fail so we can hear about the next missing white girl or when a celebrity farts. We need to provide information that can show people that by buying a shirt from Walmart, they are supporting oppress of poor people. We need to be more aware than the Republicans of what our actions are. This may not be a thing that wins us a lot of votes or support in a culture as selfish as the culture of consumption that we as Americans have built for ourselves, but we have to do it. Nothing less than reform is acceptable.
Inclusiveness
The right is famous for excluding people, discriminating, and looking down on others. We can not do this. We have to learn to cooperate and to try to understand another person's view. Specifically, I am tired of the bashing that goes on here and on other sites. I do it myself sometimes even though I shouldn't. Even yesterday I had to stop myself from posting a version of "The Aristocrats" using the Bush family. However, we have to be careful if we want to win, or at the very least we have to think about what we say in order to not be idiots ourselves.
A big example of this is all the Texas-bashing and bashing of southern states. I live in Texas, and I've found where I live at in Houston to be much more racially diverse, culturally diverse, and tolerant than say, Columbus Ohio. I've seen lots of racism and discrimination on the part of northerners than I have by southerners, however, this is only MY experience, and doesn't necessarily fit with reality. I could say that all Ohioans are racists based on my limited experience in northwestern Columbus, but then I would be ignoring the reality that not everyone is like that either in Columbus but especially the whole state. Areas like Cleveland are overwhelmingly liberal, and as a result probably more tolerant than where I was. Other parts of Columbus are more liberal and tolerant than the area I lived and worked in. My personal experience and knowledge is valid, but it does not extend beyond that which I know. I shouldn't use limited data to judge a larger set of variables. Texas is not as backwards as many of you think. Yes, there are some right-wing wackos here, and there are some major problems the state has to deal with. However, there are some of us here working to make it a better place. Your comments of derision and snobbery will not help make Texas a more liberal place. Making fun of people for believing in a god will not help them to see your point of view. Again, I admit that I am fairly judgemental and insulting at times too. However, we all have to work on not being like this. I know people who are very put off by the Texas bashing and stuff like that and do not visit the site regularly because of it. It's especially ironic when we bash based on ignorance, such as saying that Bush is from Texas when he's really from Connecticut. The truth can be much more damning because rather than painting him as a redneck cowboy idiot, reality shows him to be a priveledged rich frat boy alcoholic whose whole life is a sham.
Wrap Up
There are plenty of other things that I think we need to focus on, but this is a good start. If I had more time, I'd also address the vast right-wing Democrat conspiracy, where people like Joe Lieberman, Zell Miller, and occasionally even Hillary Clinton sell us down the river in an attempt to appear more moderate in an attempt to get votes. Maybe I'll do a part two of this diary if enough people are interested and address those things as well.
All in all, we have to learn to work as a team. We have to learn to be more intelligent, more tolerant, and more willing to understand people before we talk about them. It is important for us to realize that what we say and do affects others, and that in failing to think before we speak (or in this case type), we often alienate our allies and give fuel to our opponents to use against all of us. Either we try working together, or we continue working against ourselves. Please don't make me oppose your politics and your ignorance, and I'll work to make you not oppose mine.