Differences Between Liberals and Leftists
Can the two sides come together?
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My family, like the rest of the United States, is split about 50/50. Half are voting for Biden, half are voting for Trump, and this is why we don’t discuss politics at Thanksgiving.
These differences are more familiar than they are unusual or startling, since I grew up in a family of Southern Democrats and my husband’s family consisted of active Republicans. (His parents hobnobbed with the likes of Bob Dole and his mother was a delegate.) Maybe that’s why he and I vote for the candidate rather than the party and gravitate toward a diversity of friends who accept each other’s beliefs without rancor.
“Sadly, the world is a divided place despite the fact that we live in the 21st century. It seems we are divided from one another these days more than ever: whether politically, religiously, or in the workplace. If we cannot come together on even the closest of our relationships, how do we expect to find kindness and common ground towards others?” Dr. Nikki Martinez
In the not-too-distant past, liberals and conservatives were able to discuss politics, sometimes passionately, then go to dinner together. Hard feelings over a heated political debate were unheard of. “Crossover” voting wasn’t unusual if the candidate from the “other” party lined up more with our ideals, and the divide between Republicans and Democrats was not so earth-shattering, since both sides figured the country would survive whichever candidate happened to occupy the White House for the next four years.
But in more recent history, a divide has yawned, not only between conservatives and liberals, but between liberals and leftists. And it grows more glaring as leftists veer further and further away from the party of John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. It could be this divide, rather than the differences between Republicans and Democrats, that ultimately splinters the Democrat party.
Leftist Ted Rall does not believe there is enough overlap between liberals and…
