What’s so wrong with being ‘liberal’?
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I’m asking bесаυѕе I really want tο know whу Republicans sometimes throw іt out thеrе lіkе іt’s аn insult, I don’t see аnу problem wіth іt аt аll.
-Liberalism іѕ a broad class οf political philosophies thаt consider individual liberty tο bе thе mοѕt іmрοrtаnt political goal.[1]
Liberalism emphasizes individual rights аnd equality οf opportunity. Within liberalism thеrе аrе various streams οf thουght whісh compete over thе υѕе οf thе term “liberal” аnd mау propose very different policies, bυt thеу аrе generally united bу thеіr support fοr a number οf principles, including freedom οf thουght аnd speech, limitations οn thе power οf governments, thе rule οf law, аn individual’s rіght tο private property,[2] free markets,[2] аnd a transparent system οf government.[3] All liberals, аѕ well аѕ ѕοmе adherents οf οthеr political ideologies, support ѕοmе variant οf thе form οf government known аѕ liberal democracy, wіth open аnd fаіr elections, whеrе аll citizens hаνе equal rights bу law.[4]
Modern liberalism hаѕ іtѕ roots іn thе Age οf Enlightenment аnd rejected many foundational assumptions thаt dominated mοѕt earlier theories οf government, such аѕ thе Divine Rіght οf Kings, hereditary status, established religion, аnd economic protectionism.
Whereas Conservative doesn’t really sound аll thаt appealing tο mе, bυt I don’t call thеm ‘conservatards’ οr anything еlѕе derogatory (libtard seems tο bе a рοрυlаr one аmοng ѕοmе):
-Conservatism іѕ a political term wіth different definitions. In general, conservatives support gradual change. Scholar R.J. White once рυt іt thіѕ way: “Tο рυt conservatism іn a bottle wіth a lаbеl іѕ lіkе trying tο liquify thе atmosphere … Thе difficulty arises frοm thе nature οf thе thing. Fοr conservatism іѕ less a political doctrine thаn a habit οf mind, a mode οf feeling, a way οf living.”[1] Ronald Reagan οftеn іѕ quoted аѕ saying: “I believe thе very heart аnd soul οf conservatism іѕ libertarianism.”[2] Russell Kirk considered conservatism “thе negation οf ideology”.
Now, before everyone throws out mean comments, I’m really asking, whаt, frοm thе above, dο уου find ѕο offensive? I really want tο know, I’m asking wіth аll due respect, аnd I іn nο way assume thаt ALL Republicans аrе аnу ‘сеrtаіn way’.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative
I know ‘wiki’ isn’t thе mοѕt ‘fabulous’ source, I wаѕ јυѕt looking fοr a qυісk definition οf both liberalism аnd conservative
Thanks ѕο far fοr thе thoughtful аnѕwеrѕ аnd tο thе user whο suggested I’m a college student, I’m nοt currently, bυt I аm college educated.
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because liberals are for gay marrage and abortion
which most people are not for
Liberalism is goodness so the conservative Republicans have to try to destroy it to advance their ignorant intolerant agenda.
i’m liberal, and i’m NOT pro-choice.
also, last time i checked, this was america. and you get to have opinions here.
Because they do not understand that liberalism embraces the American Tradition of ever evolving Individual American Freedoms…
So when they hear about a woman’s right to choose, as a new freedom, they panic
When they hear that Gays want the right to marry…they panic
They did the same thing when women wanted to vote, blacks wanted to vote and have an equal education…etc
This is because they see freedom and rights as a zero sum quantity, in other words, they think by granting new individual rights that somehow their own rights are being curtailed, when in reality, everyone is more free to be a complete individual
Because some people are afraid of change. If liberals get there way here in America it would make us something like Europe
Conserves can’t abuse the word liberal any longer, what Bush and his fascist neocons cronies have made sure of that.
There is nothing wrong with it. Politicians saw how effective Ronald Reagan was in “demonizing” the “L” word…so they have used it to their advantage ever since. It just part of politics…but being Liberal is not bad in the least.
If you have to ask you are too far gone.
“-Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophies that consider individual liberty to be the most important political goal.[1]”
Because that is NOT how liberals think or act.
Liberals believe that the absolute vaguest interpretation of the Bill of Rights gives women the right to abortion on demand.
And yet, claim that the second amendment is not in any sense even valid.
Liberalism is about the rights of the few over the rights of anyone else.
As humans are on earth , there won’t be the absolute justice , because man generally isn’t absolutely fair.
well as far as your source goes, i could go edit it, thats how wiki works, but heres the deal in a nutshell
libs want huge amounts of government, higher taxes,huge amounts of govt spending
dems want alot of government alot of taxes and govt spending
reps want some government and lower taxes and govt spending
and cons want the least government and least taxes ang govt spending
along with that would be dems want abortion legal and reps want it illegal
these are just basic points, i myself beleive in pro-choice for abortion even tho im a hardcore conservative on most everything (even tho abortion would never be a choice for me) i just beleive in freedom
i tried to give it to u with the least amount of bias, hopefully it helps
Actually, this is a very good question, but I wouldn’t use Wikipedia for a resource.
I don’t mean to insult you with my guess, but I am going to assume you are a college student, because you asked an Intelligent question.
Liberals want one thing…what is best for them. It doesn’t matter if the country goes down the toilet, if they can get something for free, they will vote for it. This country was founded on conservative values, and the idea that if you work hard, you will reap the financial rewards of your efforts. Liberals believe that the government should support everyone, regardless of if they work. Look at the breakdown of the people who are living off of welfare, and I will bet dollars to donuts that they are Democrats. Don’t fall into the trap. You will see clarity in 6 months when Obama proclaims that taxes are going up for everyone despite his campaign promise. You will pay for social entitlements!
I see liberals as just people whom want change from traditionalism.which in my view is not a good idea.
Because they are soft on crime. People who torture and murder children do not need compassion and understanding. They need their nads ripped out by the roots.
Your so called equal opportunity is about hiring people, who may not be qualified, merely because of race or gender. That’s not fairness, and it’s not equality. It’s special treatment.
The fairness doctrine is not about fairness or equality. It’s affirmative action to put liberal talk show hosts on the air who no one wants to listen to.
Liberals tend to be soft when dealing with enemies. There’s only so much talking you can do with evil dictators who lie to your face and then turn around and do the opposite.
And liberals seem to prefer surrender rather than fighting any war, and yet stabbing a full grown baby through the skull, or slowly burning a fetus with saline solution is just fine in their books.
They seem to be all for any form of deviancy or debauchery because they are just so “enlightened.”
There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with the word or the reality.
The reactionaries here in the United States spent forty or so years making “liberal” into a swear word. In reality, in world terms, what’s called an “ultra liberal” in America is a moderate conservative in most of the world.
I am of that persuasion myself. And I note any number of people here presuming I believe a few things which I do not, and which MOST liberals do not. For one thing, I have been a serious shooter for more than fifty years, and I not only believe in the Second Amendment, I consider it the second most important part of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States, right after free speech…in other words, right where it physically is in the Bill of Rights! Most of the guys in my rifle club are liberal Democrats. But I guess you must be psychic. Funny how RepubloNazis always know what I believe, before I do, huh? Guess I dreamed up the last half century of high-power rifle shooting????
Our politics are backward. We have a huge working class and middle class, or did–both are now sinking into poverty due to “deregulation” and “supply side economics” and other horrible errors of the last thirty or so years. But we have no labor, liberal, or social democratic party, just two conservative parties.
The word itself should be a proud boast, not an insult.
It was liberals and social democrats Hitler and the other fascists first imprisoned and killed, because they were the deepest thinkers and most likely to oppose those right wing reactionaries and their lunatic minions. They were “dangerous” to totalitarianism, and not surprisingly, Lenin pursued exactly the same tack on the far left.
That’s a big question in a world that wants short answers.
Some people are not comfortable with change or with giving up political leverage. They benefit from or take refuge in traditional ways of doing things rather than seeking new solutions in accordance with new situations. Those people see liberals as rash, selfishly individuistic, and overly idealistic. Sometimes they are totally right, because by definition people on each extreme of the spectrum are by definition extremists, but most people embrace degrees of both idealism and traditionalism within their personal philosophies.
The definitions are nice on paper.
In practice today, they have become distorted from those original meanings.
The Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland would even have a hard time recognizing them.
Many Republicans are socially liberal but fiscally conservative.
There are many Democrats who are socially conservative but fiscally liberal.
In neither case would the use of the words “liberal” or “conservative” fit the textbook definitions you cited.
I think the words are pretty useless.
This would be an example where the definition does not equal the reality.
The problem I find with liberalism is that most PEOPLE that call themselves liberals and thus change the definition dramatically from your own profess equality over liberty and usually at the cost of liberty.
I.E. Taxing the rich (nice universal term for successful people) to give welfare to the poor (nice universal term for [yes some are actually unfortunate] the disabled, uneducated, but the fly in the ointment: LAZY)
And since you can’t separate the two (Lazy and others) and Liberals have not intention of doing so. They get the insults.
This is a singular example there are many more of the same so you should not attribute yourself based merely on, for the lack of a better term, philosophical conjecture.
Liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. Within liberalism there are various streams of thought which compete over the use of the term “liberal” and may propose very different policies, but they are generally united by their support for a number of principles, including freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, an individual’s right to private property,[2] free markets,[2] and a transparent system of government.[3] All liberals, as well as some adherents of other political ideologies, support some variant of the form of government known as liberal democracy, with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law.[4]
This is exact opposite of what liberals want. How uninformed are you really about the policies they will set forth.
I welcome further discussion on this if you like, but you are confused.
Because it’s not conservative. Conservatives tend to believe if you dont think like them or believe what they believe or see their outlook on life, you’re wrong, unpatriotic, un-American ect.
Think I’m being biased? Just look at people like Michelle Bachmann who thinks that being liberal is radical and anti-American and that congress should be investigated for these Anti-American beliefs. Or Sarah Palin who only likes to visit small town, rural, Republican America AKA “real America” or McCain’s advisor who said that McCain has voters in “real Virginia.”
Well, true Conservative today (and there are very very few, Ron Paul and libertarians for example) stand for classical liberalism, which you described. Most so called conservatives today are really just Neoconservatives who obviously don’t support classical liberalism. Modern liberals are fairly close to classical liberals especially on personal freedoms. Where they differ is the economic issues. Classic liberals favor free markets i.e. laissez-faire whereas modern liberals favor central planning (regulations) and progressive taxation which sadly they are badly mistaken. Sadly, the GOP once stood for classical liberalism, but they have been taken over by the evil Neoconservatives.
“Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophies that consider individual liberty to be the most important political goal.[1]”
OK, lets start there. Where do you see liberals (progressives) considering anyones personal liberty other than their own? It dosent happen. Liberalism is about dictatorship. The Government provides for all the people. No thanks. Give me conservatism.
Modern liberalism is a lot like fascism. In fact fascism is historically a leftist ideology.
Not a thing. They also say it is anti american.What the problem is people who act this way just can’t see past there nose. This govement was founded on debait.
I cannot judge if it right or wrong. It just that liberal rhetoric is too romantic. Liberals tend to preach every so often. Your long comment is an example. I’m not a conservative, so I cannot speak for them. I’m a realist. I cannot take anything too sweet or too bitter.
There is nothing wrong with a true liberal. In practice though…
1. For a school project a girl wore a homemade t-shirt that said “McCain Girl” on it for one day. The whole day people were insulting her, harassing her, and calling her stupid. Even a teacher joined in the fun.
2. An old woman was protesting againt homosexual marriage and a crowd of “liberals” ganged up on her. They stole her political sign and destroyed it. They harassed her.
3. It might not be fair, but liberals are perceived to not understand economics and finance.
nothing
nothing, in fact liberals are responsible for much of what makes this country great
right wing whack jobs like rush, hannity etc. have pushed their ideals on these people who would rather not think for themselves