Enough is enough. A call for compassion.

[davidthegnome]

42. In matters of policy and principle...

I am quite a bit left of center. I don't know if that qualifies me as radical or not. I guess it doesn't really matter to me, my facebook profile states that I am indeed a shameless liberal - which I am.

If I am radical, it is because the experiences of my life-time have made me so. While I agree with you in regards to conservatism and conservatives (who really, aren't conservatives, or practicing conservatism - not in the actual meaning of the words) the radical left is another matter. I do not support violence, I do not believe in "ideological purity", but I do believe strongly in a few core things:

Greater equality for all
Greater financial equality for all - including the redistribution of wealth (accomplished in many ways - primarily through progressive legislation and taxation)
Eliminating corporate subsidies - and cutting the MIC back down to size
Protecting and strengthening our environment
A much stronger safety net
The protection of civil rights
A strongly regulated market and financial system
Stronger workers rights

I could list a few more, but that's basically the gist of it. I don't know how radical these things are, or if they even are radical, but I tend to lean hard left when it comes to them specifically. I don't know whether I, or those in agreement with me are marginal or irrelevant - but we have often been referred to as such, and mocked and condescended to by the party establishment.

It is one thing to disagree on matters of policy and/or principle, it is another to view each other with disgust or contempt for these things. That was, at least in part, the point of my OP.

Still, I am pretty fiercely liberal in many regards. Years of struggle with mental illness, poverty, health issues and other things started me down that path long ago and my positions have, if anything, strengthened over the years. That being said... I also believe in the golden rule. Some times I fall short of acting as decently, as kindly as I should, but I do aspire to be kind to others, to make friends instead of enemies - and I deeply value empathy, compassion, courage and kindness in general.

There are grey areas... matters in which we primarily (more moderate and more radical democrats) disagree more on how to get things accomplished, rather than on whether they should be. I think most of us want a lot of the same things - and I don't think most of those things are radical or ridiculous.