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The word “freedom” is tossed around a lot these days. The anti-government mood in most protest rallies around the country are fueled by the notion that we are losing our precious freedom, and that government — specifically Washington — is to blame. The Tea Party abetted by right wing talk show hosts have framed the debate as freedom-loving conservatives against liberals who wish to take away their freedom.
A conservative writer, Jonah Goldberg, has gone as far as to compare the liberal philosophy to Mussolini (sparing Hitler the usual analogy). But freedom undefined is meaningless. Right-wing populists may espouse freedom, but there are areas of our lives where they welcome, even call for government intrusion.
This liberal columnist doesn’t know any of his liberal friends who are against freedom. The left has its own ideas about the definition of that elusive word. The debate really isn’t about freedom as much as it is about the proper role of government in our lives.
The Tea Party is the most visible manifestation of the populist conservative attitude toward government. It is against not only high taxes, but any kind of tax increase. It believes the federal government increasingly is encroaching on private enterprise, hence the cries of “socialism.” Notice, I specify the government conservatives are against is specifically the federal government. It supports action by state governments as if the citizens of that state are not equally affected by actions at that level. The mantra of the Old South of “States Rights” is not so much anti-government as anti-Washington.
Yet even here, the platform of the Tea Party and its radio mouthpieces is ambiguous. While its members oppose tax increases, they fail to acknowledge taxes have gone down for all but the wealthiest 1 percent under the Obama Administration. In fact, a recent study showed that about 47 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax whatsoever. While the Tea Party professes to oppose big government, polls indicate that its members still want their current levels of Medicare and Social Security to continue. They assuredly want the federal government to ensure their savings through FDIC. They support a large military presence, which if nothing else is certainly big government. If you place entitlements and the military off limits, just what does the populist right want cut that will make even a dent in the federal budget. The Tea Party also is against government bailouts (on this point the left agrees), but its members would presumably part company with Republicans over the need for strong federal regulation of Wall Street.
The populists of the Tea Party do not seem to mind government intrusion when it comes to social issues. It wants the government to ban abortions. Apparently, freedom of choice is not a freedom it supports. It also wants the government to keep the prohibition against gay marriage. It supports federal wiretapping and torture in the name of national security. It seemingly sees no need for the separation of church and state, yet becomes strict constitutionalists when it comes to the second amendment and the rights of gun owners.
The left’s definition of freedom is almost diametrically opposed the definition on the right. On economic issues, it is for strong consumer protection, tight regulation of financial markets and against rescinding the inheritance tax or the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. It wants more government when it comes to climate control legislation and steadfastly opposes off-shore drilling or the building of nuclear power plants.
It believes energy independence can be obtained by exploring alternate green sources. It believes government spending is necessary in depressed economic times, even if the federal deficit has to take a back seat. It favors the expansion of Medicare to all Americans, and wants steep reductions in military spending. It is against torture and for adhering to the accords of the Geneva Convention.
On social issues, the left wants less government. It favors the abolition of the Defense of Marriage Act. the military policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the recognition of gay marriage. It opposes the Patriot Act as an unwarranted invasion of our personal freedom (there is that word again). Likewise, it favors a woman’s right to choose, an end to the war on drugs, and as a minimum the legalization of marijuana. It favors strict federal gun control, as well as a firm line between church and state.
This list is not all-inclusive and is not meant to gloss over the differences within the left and right on issues of freedom. But it is clear that what one side sees as a personal freedom issue, the other side feels shows a need for strong government action. The question of how much government we want and how much we are willing to pay for is one that each of us must answer honestly.
Bumper stickers and signs at protest rallies tend to greatly oversimplify the issues. The Tea Party and Glenn Beck have no monopoly on their fervor for freedom. What we need is an honest debate, one which we have never really had in this country.
The time for that debate is now.
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