Sometimes the hard questions are necessary. From Substack, The Pamphleteer – 5/3/25 – On the moral courage to coexist without consensus – Let’s ask a dangerous question. Did we help create this far-right populist movement?

No, I’m not saying the Left is responsible for Nazis with podcast mics or billionaires with Twitter fingers. I’m asking something deeper. Something more uncomfortable.

Did we, in our pursuit of justice, squeeze the middle until it snapped?

For the past decade, liberals and progressives have fought tooth and nail—often heroically—for inclusion, for truth-telling, for historical reckoning, and for a moral economy. But in the process, did we also demand ideological purity?

We said: Learn the language or get left behind.
We said: If you don’t agree 100%, you’re part of the problem.
We said: There is one right way to see the world—and it’s ours.

Now look around. Half the country is sprinting in the other direction. And it’s not just the wealthy or the willingly cruel. It’s regular folks. Neighbors. Coworkers. People who might’ve stood with us—if we’d left room for doubt, discomfort, or different belief systems.

Let’s stop pretending.

Not everyone is on a slow, inevitable march toward our worldview. Not everyone believes they should be. Some folks aren’t confused. They’re not uneducated. They’re not “still learning.” They simply disagree.

They believe men and women are biologically distinct, and always will be.
They believe abortion is wrong, full stop.
They believe in God, in traditional marriage, in strict gender roles.
They believe feminism went too far.
They think drag shows are not for kids.
They might even believe America was a great nation, before all the change.

And here’s the rub: they’re not apologizing. They’re not asking for forgiveness or reeducation. They’re not “coming around.”

So the question becomes: can we live with them, if they can live with us?

Can we live next door to people whose beliefs clash with our own—not just around the edges, but deep at the core? Can we share a movement—or at least a democracy—with people who aren’t planning to change?

Because here’s the hard truth for us liberals, leftists, and progressives: a pluralistic society means just that. Plural.

If we only make room for people who mirror our values, we’re not inclusive—we’re exclusive with better PR.

We talk a big game about inclusion, but often what we mean is conversion. You can be queer—if you wave the right flags. You can be religious—if you keep it quiet. You can be pro-life—if you sit down and shut up.

But what if we’re wrong?

What if real liberty means making room for worldviews we find offensive, outdated, or flat-out wrong—not just in theory, but in practice? What if true liberalism means saying:

You don’t have to think like me. You don’t even have to like me. But we still share this town, this nation, this ballot, and we all deserve freedom: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Can we handle that?

Tolerance: The Coin of the Realm

If liberty is our creed, then tolerance must be our currency.

Not the thin, passive kind that grits its teeth and “puts up with” dissent—but the real kind. The kind that says: You have the right to live your truth, even when I disagree with it. Because that’s the only way liberty works.

Freedom of expression isn’t just for people who look like us, vote like us, or post the same hashtags. It’s for everyone. That means people who believe in God. People who think marriage is sacred. People who don’t believe gender is fluid. People who do.

And yes, that means your neighbor can fly a flag you hate from his porch—just like you can hang one from yours.

Tolerance isn’t weakness. It’s the strongest thing a democracy can do. It says: we’re not going to force you into our worldview, and you don’t get to force us into yours. We’re going to live side by side, even when we clash, even when it’s uncomfortable, because that’s the price of freedom.

Pluralism is the heart of democracy; conformity is the root of authoritarianism.

Authoritarianism feeds on conformity. It feeds on one worldview, one truth, one voice. The antidote isn’t dogma from the Left—it’s freedom for everyone. Even the ones we don’t understand. Even the ones who make us mad. Even the ones who are never going to put their pronouns in their bio.

So let’s ask it straight: how liberal do we dare to be? Are we here to build a movement—or just a club? Are we building a future where everyone’s invited—or just everyone who already agrees?

If we want a democratic nation, a real one, we’re going to have to stop demanding sameness. We’re going to have to stop asking people to trade their convictions for cultural entry.

Instead, we build coalitions. We protect rights for all. We draw hard lines around harm—but not around belief.

We say: you don’t have to be like me. You just have to leave space for me, and I’ll do the same for you.

That’s liberalism. Anything less is just a softer cage.

Stay strong. Stay bold. Stay American!
-Lady Libertie

Read more from this Substack author at: https://open.substack.com/pub/ladylibertie/p/how-liberal-are-we?r=2xyae&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

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