Words Matter.

We just made it through a tough election cycle. And in some ways the insanity continues, but that’s not for this post. I never considered myself a particularly political person. I have always voted. Some years I even volunteer on campaigns but I have never been what I would call a fanatic. In 2008 I left Facebook for a very long time because there was just so much nastiness. I was surprised at people I thought I knew. This year I felt myself feeling the same way. This election cycle I paid attention to the adjectives used to the campaigns against certain people. They were labelled, radical, too liberal, “not one of us”. What the heck? That sounds like qualities of some of the founding fathers. Didn’t the colonists throw tea overboard and ride through the night warning folks the government was coming? The British government that is. Wasn’t it a novel, downright, radical thought to leave the King and decide their own fate? Without radical, new thoughts would the world advance? As an adjective radical is a change to the very nature of something. As a noun, a radical is an agent advocating for social change. Looking at the state of racial, economic, and social disparity I think we could use a little dose of radical change. All of a sudden the word liberal is negative. What about when the waiter gives you a liberal pour or serving…not so negative then. Or how about when one is open to new ideas? I think that’s part of the definition of liberal. What about Joan of Arc, Benjamin Franklin, and Warren Buffet. Different. Progressive. Change Agents. Radical. And for goodness sake, let’s not forget Jesus Christ. Radical, liberating, changing history. So, I don’t think radical and liberal sound so bad, what about you?