Top 10 Ways to Fix the World According to Liberals

As John F. Kennedy once said: “Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 ways liberals would fix the world.

For this list, we’re focusing on liberal ideologies that those on the far left believe are the key to solving issues that affect the world. Solutions like establishing world peace are a little too broad to make this list, but we’ve still deliberately left today’s criteria relatively free of restrictions.

As has been demonstrated by dictatorships in countries like Cuba or even Nazi Germany, extreme political and economic systems have had a tendency to wreak havoc on societies – and not just from a morale standpoint. While liberals are not necessarily anti-business or anti-capitalism, they tend to disapprove of extreme laissez faire economics with no invisible hand to balance out inequalities in income distribution and provide a safety net to the less well off. That’s why, while many liberals are not as far left as socialists, they still believe that wealth should be spread more evenly through taxation and social programs like welfare, food assistance and public housing subsidies.

Although it tends to be one of the most hotly debated subjects among politicians, affordable education is one issue where public opinion is relatively unified. At the very least, most liberals and conservatives agree that no one should go into debt while trying to get an education. However, that’s the exact situation many students find themselves in, as the average class of 2016 graduate in the U.S. carries nearly $40,000 in debt. Advocates on the left have proposed payment methods that include heavier taxation on the wealthiest one percent and reduced spending elsewhere in the budget. Those liberals see unlimited benefits to free education, saying that it would foster innovation, imagination and exploration beyond what’s currently possible.

Climate change may take a backseat to threats of terrorism when it comes to the evening news, but every recent liberal political platform makes clear that the left continues to see it as a real, worrisome and man-made problem. As a general rule, liberals consider issues like deforestation, as well as air and land pollution, as controllable through self-discipline and innovative alternative solutions. Those liberal solutions include converting to smaller scales of operation, localizing industry, and accepting green energy. However, leftists are quick to say that as long as humanity cannot wholly commit to this ideological shift, the planet is doomed. And while some say that’s an alarmist view, there is scientific evidence to support it.

While this concept is definitely pushing the idealism to the point where you have to suspend your disbelief, it’s also one of the few that most people on either side of the political spectrum can agree on. Corruption – whether political or private – essentially hurts everyone. The backlash against corruption, both real and perceived, can be seen in a number of different movements and causes, from the protesters of Occupy Wall Street to the insurgent candidacies of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. Liberals would say there’s too much money in politics, and Conservatives…well they generally agree with that too. The disagreements only arise when you ask them who’s the best person to fix it.

It’s almost a given that liberals see ending land, air and water pollution as a vital issue, and according to them, that means embracing new ideas and pushing forward with innovation with regards to sustainable energy sources. Advocates suggest that sustainable energy is the future, arguing that we must both invest and explore efforts to end our reliance on fossil fuels. They say that money must be funneled into energy research so that the possibilities can be sufficiently explored. The beauty of sustainable energy is that, once it’s achieved and in widespread use, it will keep giving back.

Liberals suggest that while it appears that gender equality is a modern reality, the subject is actually more nuanced. In America, women reportedly make 79 cents to the dollar of what men make for the same job – with some sources saying it’s less than that for women of color. In the third world, women are commonly subjected to violence, and refused education and health care, among other issues. While those on the right have made strides to back gender equality, historically the left has more fervently supported the subject. Leftists believe that inequality is out-of-date in our modern world, and call for the abolition of such practices worldwide.

One word that liberals use to describe poverty statistics? “Staggering.” By the numbers: in 2014, 47 million Americans lived in poverty. Those statistics worsen when viewed on a global scale, as approximately half the world’s population lives under the poverty line. Those on the left believe that it’s important to end poverty; but what’s more, they also believe there’s enough wealth in the world to do it. Idealists point to uneven wealth distribution as a main culprit, and suggest that generosity and philanthropy are solutions to poverty, while skeptics push for heavy taxation on the rich to help spread the wealth.

We’ve all been treated to platitudes like, “treat others as you wish to be treated,” and, “all men are created equal.” And, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, was created with those ideas in mind. However, many liberals question its effectiveness in today’s society, pointing to the racism, sexism, and homophobia that pervade the world, as well as things like the slave-like labor conditions seen in the Far East and the refugee crisis in Europe as confirmation that a new declaration is needed.

No matter which side of the political spectrum you’re on, the stats tell the same story: one in nine people in the world is undernourished. 98 percent of the hunger crisis is in developing countries. One in four people in sub-Saharan Africa is undernourished, as is two-thirds of Asia. Those hunger statistics encourage liberals to look for solutions to ensure that the over 7 billion human inhabitants each gets enough food. And their ideas include giving developing countries the tools to farm and produce, as well as education and health care to ensure those countries can continue to progress.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Nationalize Transport / Make it Public
- End Police Brutality
- Ban Corporations from Donating Money to Politicians

Many liberals believe that one of the most egregious human rights violations is the refusal to acknowledge that everyone is entitled to live. They cite incidents where people are refused medical services because they can’t provide health insurance, or when a child in a third world country can’t receive any treatment because there’s simply none available as evidence that some people are denied that basic right. The leftists’ solution is universal healthcare. Their proof that it can work? Those European countries that offer health coverage to all their citizens. However, as long as it’s controlled and funded by the government, the idea of universal healthcare will be a divisive one between the left and the right in the United States.

Do you agree with our list? How would you fix the world? For more engaging top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.