Liberals create progress

With Putin wish-thinking that liberalism will die in favor of dictatorships (“Is Putin right about liberalism?” Robert J. Samuelson, July 9) like he, Kim and Xi (which may come true given the ignorant state of most of the people of the world), it is useful to consider what liberal thinking is.

Liberals consider all ideas and independently evaluate them for their worth, accepting those that seem good and rejecting those that don’t. They value the worth of other people according to their evaluation of them as individuals.

Without liberals and their consideration of new ideas, the human race would never have advanced to the stone age. They’d still be grubbing for food in the weeds and wishing they knew how to kill animals and stay warm at night without cuddling together to share body heat.

All the progress of the human race is due to liberals thinking up and considering new ideas.

If you look at the life of Jesus (if you can get beyond “Believe in me and you shall be saved”), all that Jesus did in his life was liberal: caring for others, the sick, the poor, the outcast, the strangers. He condemned the rich and powerful conservative traditionalists.

Think of that before you speak next.

Eric Johnson

Spokane