This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
By Rebecca Powell
My standard for affiliation with any label is, how does this help me live in the world? Traditional labels (conservative/liberal, Republican/Democrat) have not helped me clarify my own stances, nor have they helped me have meaningful conversations about what it means to live in a democratic nation, to participate in government.
In fact, most often accepting a traditional designation seems to close conversation. People, myself included, assume they know what a conservative or liberal thinks and feels about most topics. In part, I am an independent because I want to keep the conversations going. I want to hear what you think and why, to look past labels and listen.
I am not an independent because my political views are so novel and surprising, but because my views originate at another perspective; I am pro-people. In first grade when we memorized Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, I took the line “a government of the people and by the people” literally — people before money, before programs, before environment. Big business, big government and big green can all at times be in the best interest of people, but they are at all times in service of their own survival.
I believe in people, that there are depths of creativity and kindness in all of us, that we are capable of taking care of one another. And I think the political parties also believe in people, a belief one has translated into an allegiance to business and the other into government-run programs.
Powell lives in Las Cruces.