Maybe conservatives were right - liberalism is a disease. Or at least American liberalism.

Being an American liberal means being characterized by hypocrisy and a severe case of doublethink. The contradiction of simultaneously believing that all the typically abhorred values of society - racism, sexism, wealth inequality - are solvable through the very permutations which enable them. The inextricable link between a structural crisis and social disaster conveniently evades perception from the majority of liberals; they are convinced that some horrible entity exists which breeds inequality and all its manifestations, yet play the fool when staring it in the face. Ignorance of the structural and the transposition of correlation to other "softer" causes epitomizes the neo-liberal playbook: the system's integrity has been compromised, its morality merely obscured by greed and misfortune. Who could predict something like this?

Defining yourself as a liberal in today's society demands a high degree of outright ignorance, or, a deep-rooted belief in that this problem is fixable through economic reform and increased spending. While buffing the welfare system is never a bad thing, these are the only solutions ever offered and considered to be "viable." The economy runs as its design demands from it, and whatever consequence that delineates from it is not a mistake or tragedy, but merely the result of a naturalized crisis: the economy is the problem.

Conservatism honestly declares its hatred for minorities and lower classes, but liberalism holds out a hand meant to feed, only for that food to be poisoned. The political group does not embrace honesty, nor equality, but the self-aggrandizement of its own conception through minor victories which are then manufactured as proof of its success.

This aforementioned system is not a monster with no name, although continuously its name has been replaced with more palatable sounding terms and associations of freedom, patriotism, entrepreneurship, and wealth building. Possibly, just possibly, the diction of the term has surpassed its dictionary or patriotic injected definition and became a concept viewed more cynically, more logically. The omnipotent consumer-driven culture, the permanent working week, the consolidation and drawing of boundaries based on class being sharpened like knives, the ever-growing identification with metadata and production. Capitalism.

For a political entity based upon "reform" and progression of social causes, the liberal camp (mostly composed of Democrats) cozily ignores the progenitor of many of its championed causes. Structural inequalities are glitches in the system which do not reflect the true promise of the American Dream or whatever other optimistic garbage gets spewed. The calling card of leading Democrats in the past 20 years ignores the ontological dynamic present in the system they so champion; reform will never end, in fact, the term "reform" misleads due to no reform ever being enough to change anything.

"I'm pretty liberal..." demarcates superficially the ideals of political parties and ideology in America among moderates. Denoting your "liberalism" as a defense against accusations of racism, sexism, or other notions of discrimination articulates a shallow and self-centered protection and disassociation from what truly causes it. Somehow, being a "liberal" automatically defines you as a humanist and a supporter of social justice. The false dichotomy between "liberalism" and "conservatism" shatters with the realization that both visions believe in the same enabler.

Self-identification with being a liberal means that you care, but just not enough so that you are willing to shake off the comfort of current society. Racism is probably recognized as a problem on your radar, but the tearing down of a police state and apparent "structural problems" are either incongruous with your ideal, or outright ludicrous and false. Or maybe, you agree with this sentiment and wish to truncate yourself from what is defined as liberalism - it was merely a confusion of definition.

I was a liberal, and occasionally still refer to myself in certain circles as one simply because being a categorized as a liberal is normative and does not place you at risk of alienation from your peers. It is within the acceptable binary of society and thus rationalized, but what if that binary must be broken?