One Mo' 'Gan!
As my First Sergeant at JROTC in High School used to say, "One Mo' 'Gan!" This is short for "Once More, Again!" for those who haven't heard it before.
So, why am I writing that? Because I feel alone out here. Sure, I'm not talking much myself, but I also see that it feels increasingly like no one is doing. Other than the few news pieces that pop up, there doesn't seem to be much energy in this community, or in many others on the left.
Am I just looking in the wrong place? Or has the fire really gone out?
Of a more disturbing note, I have come to a realization: I am not a Left. I am not a Liberal. Is this because I do not follow the agenda? No, it is because I do not have an agenda. I am a Me. I am not a label at all, and I am beginning to really resent the labels that I have, whether society has brought them to me, or I have assumed them myself.
Some, sure, are merely descriptions. For instance, I am an atheist. Why do I not chafe at that description? Because it is merely a description of what is true: I have no theology. However, the label "Left" or "Liberal" really are only definitions of sets of ideas that people will assign it, regardless of what the people they define as such really fit those definitions. Therefore, to Ann Coulter, saying a "Liberal" hates America, those ideas are nothing more than definitions placed on a label that she can then put on anyone she wants to discredit (which is easy for her, because those people already take that label even though she has thoughtfully redefined it for them).
However, that definition is about as accurate as me saying that a "Conservative" is a greedy, money hungry monster, out to pollute and desecrate nature and people for a bigger profit.
Therefore, what I have realized is that these labels that we gladly assume really only hurt us in the long run. Remember what we were taught, so long ago? That we shouldn't judge a book by its cover? That we should not pass judgment on other people? That is what a label is. Therefore, I now have grown to detest labels such as Liberal, Leftist, Conservative, what have you. They are all useless categories, trying to stuff people uncomfortably into a little box of ideas that don't belong to them. If you don't believe me, try to fit the entire group known as "Christians" into a neat little box.
It ain't gonna happen.
So, in conclusion, I would like to ask "one mo' 'gan": "Is anybody there?"
Or, rather, I think it would be more appropriate to ask: "Does anybody care?"
(I would like to note that I originally wrote this on the message board of The Faulking Truth, as part of an old string that I started several months ago. The topic of that string was that I felt alone, and that I didn't feel the support of the community online or IRL, nor did I see much getting done. Therefore, the original title was "Is anybody there?"
Also of note: Yes, I did say I denounce the title of Liberal...why, then, is my blog titled that? Because it will be working for the Liberal agenda...however, that is only because the Liberal agenda, as it stands right now, seems to uphold more of the things that I value, like human rights and the environment. However, things can and do change, and it is beginning to look like I may abandon all labels all together soon. We shall see.)
So, why am I writing that? Because I feel alone out here. Sure, I'm not talking much myself, but I also see that it feels increasingly like no one is doing. Other than the few news pieces that pop up, there doesn't seem to be much energy in this community, or in many others on the left.
Am I just looking in the wrong place? Or has the fire really gone out?
Of a more disturbing note, I have come to a realization: I am not a Left. I am not a Liberal. Is this because I do not follow the agenda? No, it is because I do not have an agenda. I am a Me. I am not a label at all, and I am beginning to really resent the labels that I have, whether society has brought them to me, or I have assumed them myself.
Some, sure, are merely descriptions. For instance, I am an atheist. Why do I not chafe at that description? Because it is merely a description of what is true: I have no theology. However, the label "Left" or "Liberal" really are only definitions of sets of ideas that people will assign it, regardless of what the people they define as such really fit those definitions. Therefore, to Ann Coulter, saying a "Liberal" hates America, those ideas are nothing more than definitions placed on a label that she can then put on anyone she wants to discredit (which is easy for her, because those people already take that label even though she has thoughtfully redefined it for them).
However, that definition is about as accurate as me saying that a "Conservative" is a greedy, money hungry monster, out to pollute and desecrate nature and people for a bigger profit.
Therefore, what I have realized is that these labels that we gladly assume really only hurt us in the long run. Remember what we were taught, so long ago? That we shouldn't judge a book by its cover? That we should not pass judgment on other people? That is what a label is. Therefore, I now have grown to detest labels such as Liberal, Leftist, Conservative, what have you. They are all useless categories, trying to stuff people uncomfortably into a little box of ideas that don't belong to them. If you don't believe me, try to fit the entire group known as "Christians" into a neat little box.
It ain't gonna happen.
So, in conclusion, I would like to ask "one mo' 'gan": "Is anybody there?"
Or, rather, I think it would be more appropriate to ask: "Does anybody care?"
(I would like to note that I originally wrote this on the message board of The Faulking Truth, as part of an old string that I started several months ago. The topic of that string was that I felt alone, and that I didn't feel the support of the community online or IRL, nor did I see much getting done. Therefore, the original title was "Is anybody there?"
Also of note: Yes, I did say I denounce the title of Liberal...why, then, is my blog titled that? Because it will be working for the Liberal agenda...however, that is only because the Liberal agenda, as it stands right now, seems to uphold more of the things that I value, like human rights and the environment. However, things can and do change, and it is beginning to look like I may abandon all labels all together soon. We shall see.)
offered by Jeffrey E. Hunter at
12:55 AM
1 Comments:
And, yet, even at a time when you might have felt labels were more useful, I still contend that they are often times just used to put someone into a neat, steriotypical box. Take, for example, the label of "nigger" that was used for so long, and still is, by some whites as a demeaning label to their black bretheren, rather than trying to get to know that person and his views. Liberal and Conservative work the same way, except that we don't often get offended by it.
Now, granted, I did label this blog "Of Liberal Intent". That was because the general ideas of this blog, and those who will be posting to it, do tend towards what people often consider part of the liberal base. However, this also labels it for someone who already has a bias towards liberals, just like I might have a bias towards someone proudly proclaiming themselves conservative.
Now, I will not say that labels are useless as a quick, easy starting point. However, we use them too much, and I feel that it would be much better if we learned to start looking past them to the real people underneath them. If Ann Coulter did that, then maybe she would realize that very few Liberals hate America (I won't say none, because I cannot claim that...however, there are probably Conservatives who hate America, too. If they do, it is their right to feel that way).
So, I reiterate: Labels are just another way to control and repress people, and the people pick them up gladly. I am no label. I am simply Me.
By
Jeffrey E. Hunter, at 8:02 AM, March 07, 2006
Post a Comment
<< Home