Who are these "Liberals", anyway?

Okay. Without looking anything up, I'd like some people to explain who Liberals are.

Here's the sitch: for years, there's been talk of the "Liberal media" trying to slant discussions... Bleeding heart Liberals trying to push the welfare state agenda... a Liberal assault on the second amendment... They are directly affiliated with no American political party (In Canada, we have "The Liberal Party", but they are not liberal), but for some reason reviled by all. But it always seems to me that if "Liberals" are to blame for everything that is lumped on them, then they are the most contradictory group of political ideologists that ever existed.

Here's the theory: "Liberals" are synonymous with "Them". They are a group of people who do not share your way of thinking, and therefore must be shunned. They are a lever by which we are divided on our small differences, rather than united by our shared interest. "I don't know what a liberal is, but I know I ain't it."

See, I could have looked it up, but I'm not interested in the dictionary definition... I'm first and foremost interested in what it means. That rests far more completely within your own subconscious interpretation of the term.

So... What does "Liberal" mean? If I am a "Liberal", what is my position on the topics of the day?

Thanks!

todays Liberal is a dictator or tyrant trying to impose their will on others through law. Republicans arnt to far behind.

dont fall for these buzz words, all i see is right and wrong.
a tyrant sucking his plebs dry is wrong, a man fighting for equality and freedom for the people is right.
everything else is just a means to further divide people.

Its is a"Label" that gets thrown around by another Label that does not like the first label.

Liberal and Conservative labels are completely meaningless, especially for those of us with some historical perspective having lived through some history.
I used to say (40 years ago) I was a "Liberal Strict Constructionist" and what I meant by that was I believed the Constitutional limitations on the exercise of Governmental powers should be limited ONLY to those enumerated powers. I also believed in the liberal exercise of our individual freedoms and our enumerated rights guaranteed by the constitution.
I was for the EPA,Abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment, the Voting Act and against the 1968 Gun Control Act.
Go figure - there's not a label out there (these days) that supports those views.

IMO any kind of "self identification" relative to liberal/conservative/progressive/democrat/republican is a cop out for folks who have no need or use for critical thinking and aren't bothered by cognitive dissonance. For example, very few "conservatives" are in favor of conservation, very few liberals are in favor of exercising liberty.

ganjoa

Originally posted by camaro68ss
todays Liberal is a dictator or tyrant trying to impose their will on others through law. Republicans arnt to far behind.

edit on 29-1-2013 by camaro68ss because: (no reason given)

I will not disagree with you, but I will suggest that "Republicans" might say exactly the same thing about "Democrats".

In fact, aren't Republicans often on about the bias of the Liberal media? That's why Republicans can't get a fair shake, right? Because the "Liberal media" is constantly twisting their evil deeds to make them look... er... wait...

It's too bad "liberal" became such a corrupted word.

For instance "liberals" oppose "liberal" gun laws.

It seems to me a liberal in the US is a democrat politically in the eyes of most. Although what I would say we have now is neo liberalism, being practiced by those who claim to represent the left politically in the west. Neo liberalism is actually harmonious to neo conservatism. Hence why it seems which ever party you choose, you generally get the same results.

"Neo-liberalism" is a set of economic policies that have become widespread during the last 25 years or so. Although the word is rarely heard in the United States, you can clearly see the effects of neo-liberalism here as the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer. "Liberalism" can refer to political, economic, or even religious ideas. In the U.S. political liberalism has been a strategy to prevent social conflict. It is presented to poor and working people as progressive compared to conservative or Rightwing. Economic liberalism is different. Conservative politicians who say they hate "liberals" -- meaning the political type -- have no real problem with economic liberalism, including neoliberalism.

www.corpwatch.org...

Originally posted by ganjoa
For example, very few "conservatives" are in favor of conservation, very few liberals are in favor of exercising liberty.

Yes! Liberal! A very root-word analysis of the word would give the idea that it is more interested in promoting freedoms. But the usage of it is very not that.

It's a good doublespeak term, I suppose... The Ministry of Liberty could be the very department that enforces our enslavement.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Hence why it seems which ever party you choose, you generally get the same results.

Here's a term I learned of on this site: The Overton Window.

Basically, the idea is that some positions are too radical for the public to accept, so political positions should be crafted to stay within this "Window of Acceptability", while still marching toward the desired agenda.

Now here's my impression of the US political system (focusing specifically on the two major parties, even though I think your salvation lies in having more parties, and more clear delineation): Democrats and Republicans are all right-wing. "Political Spectrum" charts tend to show the two at the middle, with one slightly left, and one slightly right... but the truth is that they are both pushing to increase the public acceptance of radical ideals and the erosion of personal freedoms in favour of corporate freedom. That's all pushing in the general direction of Fascism.

The differences between Democrats and Republicans are decided on individual agendas. In one election cycle, Democrats will push the envelope on topics 1, 3, and 6 (and be reasonable on 2,4,5)... while Republicans push the envelope on topics 2, 4 and 5 (and be reasonable on 1,3,6). No matter who wins, the people give up something to the parties. In the next election cycle, those positions may shift... so Dems are on 1, 4 and 6, Reps on 2, 3 and 5. Subtle, but enough that every agenda gets pushed forward, and both parties appear reasonably consistent.

To bring it all back to the "Liberal" label: I think the term "Liberal" is used by both of these groups to suggest that someone's viewpoint is not radical enough on whatever topic is at hand. "This Liberal is wrecking it for the rest of us, as he won't go with the flow."

Liberal is just a title like others have said. It’s just there to stop them from being called what they really are.

Like how being told to be PR or “politically right” is just a sideways way of being told not to upset the government or people above you.

Surely you are kidding? Who are the "liberals"?

Katie Couric
Keith Olberman
Jon Stewart
Rachel Maddow
Chris Matthews
Huffington
Matt Lauer

Pretty much just name anyone at ABC CBS NBC MSNBC PBS CNN.

Liberal:

Those who hold a belief that one who works for their property, has an obligation to fund those that do not.

They demonize those with money in the bank and canonize those who live off the system. Except fellow liberals, somehow they "deserve" their income.

Originally posted by jjkenobi
Surely you are kidding? Who are the "liberals"?

Katie Couric
Keith Olberman
Jon Stewart
Rachel Maddow
Chris Matthews
Huffington
Matt Lauer

Pretty much just name anyone at ABC CBS NBC MSNBC PBS CNN.

So... every position they take fits in to the label that is made up to encompass all of the positions that are not radical enough? (My own definition by usage) Or are they all commies? Or are they all believers in a system of freedoms that cannot be circumvented by government action? I disagree that any person is entirely "Liberal". What makes them so?

I think think that the easiest way to describe liberals is that they're nice people who refuse to believe that there's not a better or easier way to do something .

We as a race have learned how to do the majority of things right , just because we don't do them doesn't mean we don't know how to do them . The problem is that many answers are unpleasant and even difficult , there must be an easier way!

The problem is that once you know how to do something right the only thing you can do by messing with it is mess it up . Don't believe me ? Here's a for instance .

Little Timmy's in the forth grade , one day Timmy's parents come to pick him up from school and overhear him saying "I don't care what he thinks , his dad likes guys . HORRORS ! Timmy is growing up to be a bigot !

Timmy's parents know it's not their fault , they've read every book by the top experts on child development and done everything that they were supposed to do , it must be the schools fault . Forgotten is the fact that children are immature , that sometimes they get mad and say stupid things . This is why many of us are not "inconsiderate persons who ought to think before we speak" but are in fact "big fat stupid heads " .

Schools (especially elementary ones ) are not there to teach liberal opinions of right and wrong , they are there to cram as many possibly needful facts as possible into little Timmy's head . For every hour that you teach that it's perfectly normal for Billy to have two daddies is another hour that you haven't given Timmy the tools that he might actually need in the future .

This is why when Timmy's liberal parents get the school to change it's curriculum the students get stupider , and as long as you keep trying to teach liberal ideals instead of facts the harder you try the stupider there're going to get .

Education is easy to understand for a conservative , you just cram their little heads full of stuff they might need to know till they don't hold no more . They understand that some people just ain't no good from the start and will grow up to be racist ,bigoted ,inconsiderate jerks no matter what you do and your best option for dealing with them is to bust em' upside their heads when they go to far .

Liberals will never accept this , I think they honestly believe that the vast majority of us can be made into a loving and tolerant people if they just keep hammering into us that we ought to act that way . It wasn't that long ago that we had to be possessive greedy jerks or our families might starve so I think liberals could be right , they're just way ahead of their time .