Reply #100: That's the conundrum. When examined, the vast majority of DUers [View All]

[TahitiNut]

... are truly Liberal, despite their OWN claims to the contrary. It's evidence of the success in making 'liberal' a bad word, imho, when people run from the word, ally themselves with autocrats whose attitudes are inimical with all of our interests and call themselves 'moderates' of 'centrists.'

Here's a survey I ran a couple of years ago. To whatever degree this has changed, it's not evident in the repeated threads where folks take the Political Compass survey and are honest enough to post their results. While I strongly suspect the "concern trolls" and other sleepers are far less than honest in portraying their allegiances, one whole slew of DUers seem to be far less attuned to what it means to be Liberal than they might think.





Perhaps it's time to briefly summarize. A liberal isn't after self-interest at the cost of ANYONE. A liberal is, first and foremost, opposed to the victimization of ANY minority (including the wealthy) as a result of the populism of majority rule. That's why liberals steadfastly support the ACLU and defense of the human rights and civil liberties of even the most reprehensible. A liberal strongly supports individual civil liberties and egalitarian participation in our political, social, and economic systems. It's a matter of Justice. Those who benefit the MOST should bear the greater burdens of paying for the very system that benefit them disproportionally. NOBODY should do without, least of all those whose labors and services are the foundation upon which our common wealth is built.

Conservatives, and neoconservatives in particular, are for privileges and entitlements for those already most advantaged! They seem indoctrinated into the ages-old mindset that their advantages are "God's will" and "God's way of saying" they're BETTER - claiming some supernatural "right" to more power, more money, more comfort, and more everything. That's why we see the divisions we're seeing.


Conservatives 'hate' liberals for one and only one ages-old reason: they think they have a (super)natural 'RIGHT" (entitlement, actually) to the sweeter fruits and greater powers - and they see liberals as a threat to their privileges. So, instead of being intellectually honest, they project upon liberals their own predatory worldview - might makes right.