Seeing the Whole Picture
by Yvonne Palmer

I am a life long Democrat even though at one point I thought I might be a Communist. I guess I’m not that strident about political allegiance. But I would say that I’m probably leaning toward a more Democratic Socialist affiliation in the following ways.  

I believe in equality and in the ability of all in a society to have equal access and equal opportunity.  But I also believe that the society, meaning our government and institutions have an obligation to insure this access and opportunity by the way it structures those relationships and the ways in which we value human life and its contributions to the society.  

I guess you would say that I am a Progressive. I believe that capitalism is meant to insure   haves and have nots and that the more the market controls outcomes, the more our representatives write policies to insure that. So, I don’t see capitalism as a system making sure that progressive ideologies flourish. I have at times considered myself along a spectrum of these political beliefs and at one time thought of myself as revolutionary. But as I’ve gotten older, I feel that revolution often produces that which it has fought against. Progressive to me is more defining if enduring values rather than sudden change.