Editors' Introduction

Welcome to the first issue of The L-Word, Swarthmore's new Journal of Progressive Thought. Our goal in starting this publication is to fill a void that has existed for too long: on one of the most politically progressive campuses in the country, there is no liberal publication. We recognize, however, that all of us do not all share the same vision of exactly what that term liberal means. In this issue alone, we have articles expressing opinions about the environment, the health care industry, our supposedly "Democratic" president, and the meaning of "liberal" itself. Our hope is to provide a forum for discussion of the differing views that liberals hold. We encourage you to share your vision by writing for The L-Word. We will publish twice per semester, in print and on the web.

With The L-Word, we hope to provoke stimulating debate. As Wendy Lawrence writes in this issue, "[w]hen true political discouse takes place, citizens learn not about the personalities and politics of their leaders, but the ways in which the issues and policies that our leaders debate affect them as individual members of a society."

At a time when liberalism is in decline, the first issue of The L-Word shows an insightful, original, future-oriented vision of liberal politics, written and produced entirely by Swarthmore's progressive students. There may be hope;The L-Word could, in fact, be a guide to the direction of liberalism in the future. We hope you will join us in the journey there.

Ben Fritz, Matt Hellman, and Brendan Nyhan

co-Editors

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