Michael Costello
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Fri Jun-25-04 04:53 PM
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Corporate media users the terms liberal and conservative, so I tend to think they're meaningless terms, or rather, using those terms are what the corporate owners and media controllers want. Especially since conservative means both socially conservative, like the majority of conservatives, as well as fiscally conservative, like a small minority of conservatives who run the Republican party and other conservative institutions. I don't even think the majority of people who call themselves conservative are for NAFTA and things such as that. As far as liberal, I don't know how many Teamsters would call themselves liberal even though many of them are very pro-labor. Milton Friedman says he is liberal - a "classical liberal" whatever that means (Noam Chomsky disputes that Friedman and his ilk are classical liberals, he thinks progressive movements are heirs of the old liberals).
If I had to describe myself I'd say I was pro-working class. On one hand, this tosses out another buzzword or phrase that exists to muddle thinking as far as I'm concerned - middle class. It also uses the word class, which the right does not like to talk about.
The only problem is that, like so much else, I think it would be easy for the right to come in and say that they're pro-working class as well. I suppose you could put a fine point on it and ask why changing laws for inheritance taxes for people with over $1 million who've never worked like Paris Hilton has to do with the working class, but they have total control of the public airwaves (except for Pacifica and some public access cable shows) so that could be muddled.
Then one could say they are socialist, which they would not claim they are. Then again, they have always taken great pains to equate socialism with big government, mostly because socialism doesn't have much to do with big government. Maybe social democrats or even New Deal Democrats do. Or all of the corporate welfare and money to military contractors the conservatives do (with military being very broad - interstate highways, R&D for the Internet and much infrastructure was called military expenditure, whether it was or not). The ultimate aim of socialists has always been to do away with government - something I've never heard conservatives or liberals suggest. Spanish socialist workers called themselves libertarians before and during the Spanish Civil War, but libertarian is another word whose meaning has been twisted while crossing the Atlantic.
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Lone_Wolf_Moderate
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Fri Jun-25-04 05:09 PM
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although technically more of a moderate. I do agree that those terms liberal and conservative have been so devalued, that they simply do not apply. Many on the Right commonly referred to as conservatives are hradly conservative, simply right-wing. The same could be said of some on the Left as well (not liberal just left-wing, or more radical). How do we define liberal or conservative anyway?
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JHBowden
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Fri Jun-25-04 05:11 PM
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I'm very liberal on social issues, center-left on economic issues, and center-right on foreign policy.
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hyphenate
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Fri Jun-25-04 05:16 PM
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3. Try visiting Political Compass |
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and take the quiz. They have an excellent discussion of the various different political positions, and allows you to see where you fall relative to a great many leaders in the world, past and present. http://www.politicalcompass.org
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Kali
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Fri Jun-25-04 06:34 PM
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I'm in good company there smack dab in the center of the lower left quadrant.
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Sporadicus
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Fri Jun-25-04 07:11 PM
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Edited on Fri Jun-25-04 07:12 PM by Labor_Ready
I appear to fall near Nelson Mandela. And yes, I have always considered myself a liberal. On the other hand, I like the sound of the term 'progressive.'
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merh
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Fri Jun-25-04 07:24 PM
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9. Yep, I am a tree hugging, civil rights loving, bleeding heart |
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Edited on Fri Jun-25-04 07:25 PM by merh
LIBERAL and proud of it thank you very much!:hippie:
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NewJeffCT
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Fri Jun-25-04 07:37 PM
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Economic Left/Right: -5.50 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.77
close to Nelson Mandela & the Dalai Lama
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Piperay
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Fri Jun-25-04 07:44 PM
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I'm always thinking I am moderate but when I take these tests I find out I'm more to the left. This one shows me to be about equal to Gandhi (fine with me). :shrug: :-)
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Shakespeare
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Fri Jun-25-04 05:21 PM
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4. I am PROUD to call myself a liberal! |
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The repugs are not ever going to turn that into a dirty word for me. Fuck 'em.
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The Commie
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Fri Jun-25-04 05:29 PM
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Cheswick2.0
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Fri Jun-25-04 06:49 PM
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any politician who isn't at least a populist is on my shit list.
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mistertrickster
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Fri Jun-25-04 07:30 PM
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10. I'm a liberal because I believe what most Americans believe-- |
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they want gov't to fully fund education, social security, medicare, and take on big problems that no other entity can--pollution, corporate rip-off (ie, Enron), consumer safety, and a decent standard of living for all.
Remember, were not just liberals, we're the MAJORITY.
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Tierra_y_Libertad
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Fri Jun-25-04 07:32 PM
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11. "Liberals" from an old '60s saying. |
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The fascists will shoot you. The conservatives will applaud the fascists. The moderates will watch it on TV. The liberals will cry over your grave and feel guilty for turning you in to the fascists.
I prefer radical.
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SarahB
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Fri Jun-25-04 07:38 PM
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liberal ADJECTIVE:
1a. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry. b. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded. c. Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism.
d. Liberal Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.
Source: American Heritage® Dictionary
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greatauntoftriplets
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Fri Jun-25-04 07:45 PM
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15. Flaming leftist here. |
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