Homegrown Democrat

'Liberal Democrat' a is a term that has been dragged though the mud in the echo-chamber of political pissery. Garrison Keillor rescues the term, and the accompanying ideals in "Homegrown Democrat". Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, you are not so different from other people so don't give yourself airs - these ideals were taught to us as children. They are the foundation of liberal thinking.

Garrison writes about the social compact;

  'The fear of catastrophe could chill the soul but the social compact assures you that if the wasps come after you, if gruesome disease strikes down your child, if you find yourself hopelessly lost, incapable, drowning in despair, running through the rye toward the cliff, then the rest of us will catch you and tend to you and not only your friends but We the People in the form of public servants. This is a basic necessity in a developed society... This is Democratic bedrock: we don't let people lie in the ditch and drive past and pretend not to see them dying. Here on the frozen tundra of Minnesota, if your neighbor's car won't start, you put on your parka and get the jumper cables out and deliver the Sacred Spark that starts their car. Everybody knows this. The logical extension of this spirit is social welfare and the myriad government programs with long dry names all very uninteresting to you until you suddenly need one...'

Homegrown Democrat at Amazon