Liberal, Conservative, or Libertarian?

[brewer]

Why can't we just have opinions without branding ourselves? I get that labels are useful mental shortcuts but they are needlessly divisive shortcuts as well

I have no idea what I'd call myself. I don't think anyone falls 100% with a certain ideology,  everybody cherry picks different belief systems into their own mix. And that's only natural. People are much too complex to put them in boxes. They never fit perfectly and it's a bitch to unfold them afterwards

Vic the Branded.

I hope it sticks.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Actually, an irrational fear of foreigners is xenophobia.

Nothing wrong with foreigners.

... but there's something wrong with poisoning the well using the wrong terms.

[account_inactive]

Nothing wrong with foreigners.

... but there's something wrong with poisoning the well using the wrong terms.

Foreigner is the wrong term now?

[Catholic_Lady]

I'm not sure what you mean, Taz. The vast majority of abortions are not done because the mom's life is in danger. And when it is, there are ethical ways of saving the mom and possibly the baby too, that don't involve abortion.

Because you conflate your insistence on imposing a blanket ban on all abortions as being pro-life. Remember you toe the rcc line of no abortions in any situation, not I.

Oh, and if we're going down the "vast majority" route, the vast majority of foetal implantations (i.e. when the fertilised foetus gets implanted in the womb) end in termination before viability naturally. And the vast majority of women who'd have a legal abortion under the current climate would have an illegal and highly dangerous abortion under the climate you wish to impose on us all (which gives lie to the idea of banning abortions isn't going to impact women's health).

Until you stop mendaciously conflating anti-abortion with pro-life I'm going to bring this point up every time. I'm more pro-life than you are.

What I'm saying is, abortion is simply not necessary to save the life of a mother. Medical treatment she might require if her life is in danger may cause unintentional harm/death to the baby (such as treating an ectopic pregnancy, or doing chemotherapy if she has cancer, or having to induce birth early. etc), but this is not the same as doing an abortion. I recently went through a situation that could have led to early induction of my son if my preeclampsia got out of hand, which would most likely have killed him because he was not old enough or strong enough to have survived outside of utero. But again, that would have been different from doing an abortion.

[Pat Mustard]

What I'm saying is, abortion is simply not necessary to save the life of a mother.

And what I'm saying is that pretending that banning abortions is the same as being in favour of life is a lie. And I am right.

[Catholic_Lady]

Why can't we just have opinions without branding ourselves? I get that labels are useful mental shortcuts but they are needlessly divisive shortcuts as well

I have no idea what I'd call myself. I don't think anyone falls 100% with a certain ideology,  everybody cherry picks different belief systems into their own mix. And that's only natural. People are much too complex to put them in boxes. They never fit perfectly and it's a bitch to unfold them afterwards

I agree with this! Though sadly, it is true that many people will conform to whatever political view represents their preferred party. But of course we shouldn't assume everyone does this and put them into a box before we even know them.

---

What I'm saying is, abortion is simply not necessary to save the life of a mother.

And what I'm saying is that pretending that banning abortions is the same as being in favour of life is a lie. And I am right.

Then it seems you and I have a different understanding of the term. When I say pro life, I mean valuing human life from conception until natural death, and believing that people should have the legal right to life above all other rights. Meaning we should not dirwctly and purposely kill anyone except in cases of defense from a lethal instigator, or in justified war. It also includes opposition to the death penalty and care for the poor.

Just so there is no future confussion when I use that term, that is what I mean.

Edit bc I keep misspelling lol

[CanOfMountainDew]

What do you call someone who's far right on identity politics including racism, sexism, Islamophobia, and homophobia...liberal on economics, social safety nets, hand up not hand out....liberal on abortion...conservative on illegal immigration and migrants....liberal on gun control and climate change....?

A liberal.

[Thumpalumpacus]

... but there's something wrong with poisoning the well using the wrong terms.

Foreigner is the wrong term now?

Link to the post where you think I wrote that. Look up "poisoning the well" before doing that, though.

[Athena777]

It's a nice sentiment to not believe in labels. But we evolved to label each other. You had to quickly determine if someone was a friend or foe, otherwise you'd be killed.

[Aegon]

It's a nice sentiment to not believe in labels. But we evolved to label each other. You had to quickly determine if someone was a friend or foe, otherwise you'd be killed.

That's pretty different. Labels like the ones discussed in this topic serve only to oversimplify our beliefs and divide us as a population. What you're talking about is assessment of threat. "That guy is going to hurt me, he is a foe" is different from "that guy is a libertarian, he is an idiot."