The only people who might be afraid to label themselves liberals are politicians. Most true liberals, including myself, are proud to be called liberals. The problem with using labels in a debate is that you sometimes begin to debate with the label rather than the actual person you're talking to. It's sometimes used as a way to escape from meaningful discourse by attacking the strawman in your mind rather than the person in front of you.
Here's a relevant excerpt from the speech John F. Kennedy gave when accepting the nomination of the NY Liberal Party on September 14, 1960.
Quote:
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What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."
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