With the election slowly approaching I can't help but feel I am continuously defending myself for not only being a liberal but being a young liberal.
1.Because we are young and liberal, we are dumb.
Often times I find my age being attacked rather than the issue I had originally addressed. Many assume I am uneducated and because I am young that being a liberal is just a phase. However, I can assure you there are plenty of well educated adults that identify as liberals and that not all adults are conservative, just like not all young people are liberal. I can also assure you that if I choose to debate with you about politics, despite your age, I am well educated on the topic.
2. The assumption that we are ALL on welfare.
I have never received government assistance in my entire life. However, because I support some aspects of government assistance many believe that I am a "free loader". On the contrary I was raised by a father who is very conservative regarding economics and I was raised to work hard for myself. However, I DO support government assistance and do not generalize that all who do receive it are free loaders or are not hard working people.
3. That we are ALL atheist.
The misconception regarding most liberals is that we are all atheist. This stigma originates from our belief that religion should not influence any laws made. Often times when I tell someone very religious that I am a liberal they assume I am not religious because I am pro choice and support same sex marriage. Yes, I can still be religious and not wish to force everyone to follow MY religion by creating or supporting laws that do so. Furthermore, I am allowed to be religious even if I do not agree 100% with what common religions believe.
4. The assumption that we want to ban ALL guns.
With the recent mass shootings that have been occurring this has come up quite a bit. Many assume that all liberals want to ban guns completely. This couldn't be any farther from the truth. For many of us, we want to see regulations put in place that restrict who can get guns and what guns they are allowed to have. Do I want guns banned completely in the United States? Absolutely not. But do I also want to sit back and do nothing while more gun violence continues to increase death tolls in America? No. There is also this assumption that we do not support the second amendment by demanding gun regulations be enacted. The second amendment calls for a 'well regulated militia', which United States has considering they have one of the largest defense budgets in the world. I can probably guess the Framer's never intended on allowing just anyone to buy an assault weapon as long as they provided proof of identification.
5. We are "terrible people" because we support Hillary Clinton.
I'm with Bernie on this one when he said "we are tired of hearing about the damn emails". If you don't want to vote for Hillary Clinton because of the emails or whatever reason, I understand. However, its really hard for me to understand why you would expect ME to vote for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. As a liberal, Trump is that exact opposite of someone that I would like to be in office. He is OPENLY, racist, sexist, and homophobic (despite his recent efforts to side with the LGBTQ+ community). I am truly baffled when someone supports him because they believe he is just "honest". Being hateful to a specific race, gender, etc. is NOT HONEST. He is a man with a foreign policy that violates several international laws and he has yet to lay out a good domestic policy plan. So as a liberal I can say that I will support Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump, despite her past history. And no that does not make me a terrible person and no I do not believe what she did was right but I do believe that Donald Trump is far from qualified for president of the United States. Furthermore, my political beliefs align with Hillary Clinton's which is why I choose to support her and her campaign.
6. That we NEVER shut up.
When you are as passionate about politics as I am, you find yourself consistently talking about it or sharing articles about it. However, as a liberal, we are constantly trying to spread awareness which means we never shut up. Social issues are very important to us and are still very present in our country which means we are always trying to bring attention to it. Often times people find us annoying or call us bleeding heart liberals (specifically me). Being called annoying is perfectly fine because we are still getting your attention even if it is negative.
No matter where you are on the political spectrum you are going to face some struggles especially in a country that is so split into two. However, you should take the struggles and let them be the fuel to keep the fire within you strong for what you believe in.
