Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Why Liberals are Menschen

A Mensch is a Yiddish word that signifies a good person -- more like a 'real human being'. I like to use Yiddish words -- in part because my mother used them, but also because they invoke the world of my ancestors and a kind of 'wholeness' in their way of thinking that I admire -- a mix of wisdom, humor, keen powers of observation, and a strong hold on reality. There is really no plural in English, but menschen is the plural form in Yiddish/ German and it will have to do.

There are many dimensions to being a mensch, but the one that resonates most strongly for me is empathy -- an ability and natural tendency to put oneself in another's shoes. In the Crossfire style of discussion and debate that our media loves to promote, empathy is a missing element. To my mind, empathy -- a sign of weakness in the mind of most conservatives today (see George Lakoff's work), is the key difference between the liberal and conservative mindset.

It's what I love about liberals -- their ability to imagine themselves into the interior lives of other people.

Two examples struck me recently. We just lost two powerful adversaries: Tony Snow and Jesse Helms --both aggressive right-wing warriors . These pieces struck as reflecting the best of the liberal sensibility:

Elizabeth Edwards 's article in Newsweek on Tony Snow: Common Cause .

John Paul Womble's (a local AIDS activist) comment in the Independent on the passing of Helms. I loathed Helms and appreciate all the other observations from progressives in this article, but Womble's comments touched my soul.

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