Brooks asked, "where are the liberals?" in the NY Times yesterday. He says "the percentage of Americans who call themselves liberals is either flat or in decline. There are now two conservatives in this country for every liberal. Over the past 40 years, liberalism has been astonishingly incapable at expanding its market share."
The answer is, people don't call themselves "liberal" anymore, because many of the issues that used to be "liberal" are now centrist, or are no longer issues at all. For example, racial integration of the military used to be a liberal issue. Today, you'd sound like a nut if you argued against racial integration of the military. You'd sound like a nut if you argued for it, too - it's settled. Similarly, the position that women should be allowed to serve in the military was, at one time, a liberal stance. Today, agreeing with that position is not considered liberal. It's at least centrist, and probably the mainstream conservative position as well.
Reproductive freedom was, at one time, a liberal issue. Today, you wouldn't self-identify as a liberal because you support, with reasonable restrictions, the right to get an abortion. Restricting the right to an abortion to the first trimester is a pretty conservative position these days. Today, 'reproductive freedom' refers, for the most part, to abortion. However, it also means 'condoms,' and the legalization of condoms was once a liberal issue. David Brooks wouldn't call you (and you wouldn't call yourself) a liberal based on your support for the continued legalization of condoms.
Social Security was a radical liberal idea. Twenty years ago, it was the third rail of politics. Today, you'll find signs in the hands of hard-core conservatives saying "hands off my social security!" The notion that you're a liberal in 2012 if you support the Social Security program is laughable.
Despite appearances, Gun Control, too, has shifted dramatically to the center. Yes, a person who supports the criminalization of all guns is a liberal. However, you can support reasonable restrictions on the sale or possession of heavy weapons and still be pretty conservative. A person who supports the restrictions of the Brady Act (such as background checks on purchasers handguns) may not be regarded as a conservative by the NRA, but he or she wouldn't self-identify as a liberal. 30 years ago, background checks were a very liberal idea.
I'm not exactly sure what positions a self-identified liberal would take today. Your hard-core liberals (the old socialist hippie with buttons on his hat, the girl with the ungoverned body hair, the dude who married a dude, etc.) are still out there, and they have positions. Gay rights has moved dramatically towards the center, but is still a liberal issue. Animal rights is still clearly the province of the left wing. Lately, I haven't heard too many people arguing that the workers should seize control of the means of production, but I'm sure they are out there, too.
In any event, I think the answer to the question, "Where are the Liberals" is "in the Center." So central, in fact, that they don't even call themselves liberal anymore. All that's left on the left are issues that were once on the far extremes of the movement. Now, if you say you are a liberal, you are really saying you support those ideas. If you don't, you won't call yourself a liberal anymore.
I am not taking a side, just talking. To myself, really. Some conservative ideas - free trade, welfare reform, law and order, aren't conservative anymore because they've become the center. Where those types of conservatives are today will be my next post.
Also, the elephant in the room is, of course, the distribution of
wealth. I think that's a little too much for one blog post, but we'll get there.
