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Am I a "liberal"?
#1
Am I a "liberal"?
I was asked this on another thread like it's a bad thing. Now I'm not one to label myself as anything. I've been a registered voter in the US since the age of 18, but I refused to register to any particular party because I wanted to be open to seeing all sides. During this last presidential election I had to classify my self as a Democrat to be able to vote in the primary. I didn't want to, but I was not going to vote for another Republican at any cost. Anyway I decided to find out exactly what it means to be a liberal and if it is, in fact, a bad thing. I ran across this article;

http://media.www.vanderbiltorbis.com/med...2036.shtml

and I'm proud to say yes I am a liberal and I am not ashamed to say itSmile
binnyCoffee
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#2
RE: Am I a "liberal"?
article Wrote:Undoubtedly, liberals in the United States today can be generalized as those who want progression and change within our political, cultural and social systems. Liberals believe in helping others and giving assistance when needed instead of adopting a survival-of-the-fittest attitude. They generally support government programming and assistance, equality and equal opportunity.

What about liberals in the UK? How are we generalised? Shy
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#3
RE: Am I a "liberal"?
Well, I don't know. I would assume about the same, or maybe better. Smile
binnyCoffee
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#4
RE: Am I a "liberal"?
Our liberal party isn't even one of the main two. This makes me sad Sad
But if I lived in the united states then yeah, I'd probably fall under the liberal category. I prefer to go by the term "progressive" though.
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#5
RE: Am I a "liberal"?
Liberty is awesome, and being a liberal is only a compliment.
Please give me a home where cloud buffalo roam
Where the dear and the strangers can play
Where sometimes is heard a discouraging word
But the skies are not stormy all day
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#6
RE: Am I a "liberal"?
But from what I understand the UK and most European countries are not as right wing. So what I'm saying is your right wing falls a bit left of ours...I think. I could be entirely wrong, that's just my impression.

I remember when Paul Cellucci was running for Governor in the late 90s and there was a campaign against him from another Republican who was running and tried to smear Cellucci saying he was too liberal. I asked my mom why it was a bad thing to be a liberal and she said it wasn't, but Republicans don't like liberals so if you're called one in the Republican party, it's a bad thing. Then she explained to me that she was a liberal.

It's funny how random memories like that stick with you. I even remember what as going on in the commercial. Everyone was at a fundraiser party and balloons were everywhere, but more people left as more negative stuff was said about Cellucci. FYI: He was voted in as Governor.
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." Benjamin Franklin

::Blogs:: Boston Atheism Examiner - Boston Atheists Blog | :Tongueodcast:: Boston Atheists Report
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#7
RE: Am I a "liberal"?
It's a bit tricky this one, because liberal probably doesn't mean the same in the uk as it does in America.
In the uk we have a Liberal Party, which positions itself in the centre in an attempt to break the stranglehold the two more electorally successful parties have enjoyed under our first-past-the-post voting system. Those 2 parties USED to offer a choice between left and right, socialism and capitalism. The party of the left being the Labour Party and the Conservative Party being the party of the right.
That changed however when the Labour Party was taken over by right-wingers and Tony Blair became leader in 1994. Since then, it ceased to be a party of the left, rather another version of conservatism.
The Liberal Party talks left on some issues and right on others, depending who is listening.
So being termed liberal in the uk would probably indicate support for the party of that name, rather than indicating any political ideology.
I understand ( I think ) what the term means in America and I prefer liberal views to right-wing ones.
HuhA man is born to a virgin mother, lives, dies, comes alive again and then disappears into the clouds to become his Dad. How likely is that?
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#8
RE: Am I a "liberal"?
Conservation is never a good sign... If you are conserving your resources: You are doing it wrong.

Personally, i could never be as rich as Bill Gates... because i would be spending that money. What good is having money, and spending it on owning 15 cars... when you could reform the world? What i could do with 80 billion USD... oh what i could do... Smile

Anyway, the liberal political ideology is one of few i subscribe to.
Please give me a home where cloud buffalo roam
Where the dear and the strangers can play
Where sometimes is heard a discouraging word
But the skies are not stormy all day
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#9
RE: Am I a "liberal"?
If you want to vote for a liberal party in the UK, you can either go for the Liberal Democrats or the Libertarians. Libertarianism is all about personal freedom (which is the very definition of "liberal"), both social freedom and economic freedom Big Grin

It's sad that there aren't more Libertarian candidates. The idea of libertarianism isn't as widespread or well-supported in the UK as the USA. I'll probably vote Lib Dem next time unless there is a Libertarian in my area.
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#10
RE: Am I a "liberal"?
No...I did not ask you if you were a Liberal as if it were a bad thing. I just wondered if you were a far left winger. Liberals like Republicans have downfalls. Some liberals think it's ok to give non whites more freedoms for example. Affirmative action is one of those liberal concepts that is completely unconstitutional. Sometimes people have to watch just how liberal they are because they can go beyond ensuring freedom for all and start infringing on the rights of others. Another example of this would be the idea that a lot of liberals think that we should not use strict interrogation processes with terrorists and that because they are human they should be treated with dignity. I could care less if we made terrorists sit in a rat infested hole and gave them a glass of water and a piece of moldy bread to eat every day. I think sometimes you can be so Liberal that you lose your backbone and become a bleeding heart with no balls. I do hate the race card that the Democrats pull on us all the time. They give a lot of power to the NAACP. I remember recently when a black woman was supposedly raped by a bunch of Duke students the NAACP and the liberals were quick to call it a race issue. Turns out she voluntarily had sex with all of them and wasn't raped. Things like that...the way they jump to conclusions about race issues....is one reason why I don't like the far left wingers.

The platform for the Democratic party isn't bad. If they would just be more conservative with money it would be ok. I think the Republicans and Democrats are just as "evil" because they have gotten so large and corrupt that there's no fixing them. They bicker back and forth like children and I'm getting tired of it. Obama wants to address school children and talk about the importance of education and the Republicans are crapping golden eggs over it. They think he's going to brainwash them. Yet Ronald Raegan and Bush Sr addressed school children. I remember Nancy Raegan and the DARE program. Talk about brain washing. They told us Marijuana was addictive and would make us lazy and stupid!!! The independents are crazy Christians who want us all to worship God like the Republicans. They are anti Gay marriage and believe this country was founded on Christianity!! The Libertarians are the only real party in America that is balanced. It is the third largest party and seems to use common sense and puts personal responsibility back into each of us. You can be in support of gay marriage and not be Liberal. I support everything socially that Liberals support yet I am against welfare and social programs.
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