<p>Shoot, I don’t mean social! At least not in the sense I make it sound like I’m saying.</p>
<p>I’m so tired. I’m not making any sense.</p>
<p>Whatever, just call me a libertarian.</p>
<p><em>goes to sleep</em></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As long as pragmatism equates to wishful thinking and making a real effort to believe things do work by refusing to see the evidence to the contrary. This is the way we learn to accept the ineptitude of a government that has slowly been poisoned by liberalism. Marite says it best when rejecting the notions of labels. Our political leadership has changed over the past five decades but the results are pretty much the same. We have a bigger government that has never had to be accountable to its citizens and has become a major magnet for the truly inept, lazy, and corrupt. And this permeates all levels of government and not only the federal level. We do not have to look much further than our state of education to understand the nefarious impact of liberalism and unionism. </p>
<p>The political labels mean nothing in the current environment.</p>
<p>I have not read the whole thread - but I am Liberal on some issues- gay marriage, universal health care, conservative on others- tax policy, free market capitalism- yes I think you can believe in free markets and still believe there is a role for government- defense, universal health care but no to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other government bail outs. I am against the death penaly and on a personal level would recommend against abortion but not sure how to address the issue to the nation. I am not religious but believe life begins at conception- I guess I lean to safe and rare with the hope it becomes almost never.</p>
<p>bellaro, I believe he was saying that he is liberal on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, death penalty, etc. Made sense.</p>
<p>STUDENTS
Liberal - 3
Centrist -
Conservative -1</p>
<p>Politically (and especially socially) very liberal. Pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, anti-death penalty (though that’s not something we have to worry about as we amended our constitution a few years back so that it cannot be reintroduced), pro-universal healthcare, and I am also in favour of legalising marijuana.</p>
<p>Hell, I may as well just call myself a hippy :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, that’s definitely what I tried to convey.</p>
<p>I thought it was completely clear.</p>
<p>STUDENTS
Liberal - 2
Centrist -
Conservative -1</p>
<p>EDUCATORS
Liberal- 1
Centrist
Conservative</p>
<p>PARENTS
Liberal - 7
Centrist - 3
Conservative - 4</p>
<p>I’ll play. Mainly to say that as I got older, I got more liberal, not less. And I know plenty of people like me, middle-aged and liberal. In fact, I know a fair number of people who were Republicans in their 20s and are now liberal Democrats.</p>
<p>edvest, are you unable to discern the difference between American liberal philosophy and Russian bureaucracy, or just unwilling to do so? I can tell you this - in California, the DMV operates pretty darn efficiently. More so than my HMO, that’s for sure.</p>
<p>Xiggi - when I was your age I thought exactly as you do. Like I said, life has taught me that in the real world a certain level of inefficiency and redundancy is unfortunately unavoidable in any large scale endeavor - and most endeavors are large scale these days. I used to think that an entrepreneurial level of industry and bang for your buck was attainable for all undertakings for an unlimited duration. It’s not. Sooner or later, the institutional model of management has to take over. And that model of behavior is inefficient, but effective. And in terms of efficiency it doesn’t matter whether the institution is private sector or public sector - the size of the organization dictates the mode and function of the undertaking. I suspect that if you got a good look at how any large corporation operates you’d be just as outraged at what you’d perceive as the laziness, ineptitude and corruption you’d find there.</p>
<p>Xiggi, I would argue tha it is the “inept, lazy, and corrupt” citizens that fail the liberal ideals. </p>
<p>Disclosure: I am usually on the left of what most would consider as liberal.</p>
<p>Kluge, that is a very good explanation. </p>
<p>I do not disagree that a certain level of inefficiency and redundancy is unfortunately unavoidable. However, while the wealth and resources of our country has allowed to consider such negatives as an acceptable and reasonable social cost, we now face problems that require changes in our attitude. Our amazing naivet</p>
<p>Padad, again, I am just unsure about all those political labels. </p>
<p>I *believe *that many things I tend to detest represent liberal ideas. But then I am not so sure about the “other” side. For instance, my profound distaste for the union leaders of groups such as the NEA or AFT is well-known. However, I would hold them in a similar esteem if they would bribe the Republican or conservative Establishment as opposed to reserve their largesses for the left side. </p>
<p>I also believe that my views on energy policy and the environment are hardly conservative–my support for a $3.00 or $4.00 bucks fee on a gallon of gasoline does not sound too darn conservative a few years ago! Yet, that does not stop from considering Gore to be a snakeoil salesman and a focus group buffoon. To hear him presenting himself as a wind energy guru (on TV this Sunday) is just stomach churning when looking at his record as Senator and VP. If such a clown is a typical Liberal, then I do not want much of that label! </p>
<p>Liberal or conservative, I just think that we ought to look for the people who can help us find solutions to our real problems, and not bring us solutions to problems that do not exist.</p>
<p>Xiggi, please note that my statement in post 71 pertains to “liberal ideals” not policies that are advocated by parites carrying a liberal label.</p>
<p>I’m so far to the Left that I go all the way around to the Right.</p>
<p>^that just poved my point. LOL</p>
<p>I am a libertarian.
I believe that the constitution is the sole document that our government should base its policies on. I also believe that our country is founded in the belief of freedom, and the larger the government and the more involvement the gov has in our lives, the less freedom we have. The spirit of America has always been based on the belief of the ability to move up economically. There are times the government needs to be involved, but today the gov is way too big, and the bigger the gov, the higher chance of corruption exists.
The founders preached freedom and personal responsibility, not a huge government which people rely too heavily upon to solve thei r problems.
At the same time people want gov to intervent(health care, welfare, etc), there are complaints when it becomes too involved.
America needs to return to its roots. The constitution needs to be the true law of the land, and its philosphy needs to be followed. We are in an illegal, undeclared wars and the gov is now allowed to spy on its citizens without cause. We really need to get of labels and parties, because it is now less about ideas and more about parties and liberal or conservative. Look at the dc v heller case and how the justices wrongly ruled based on their personal beliefs, and not the meaning and purpose of the 2nd amendment. Any history buff knows that one of the big issues that sparked the revolutionary war was the brits attempt to disarm the us militias, and during the convention numerous amendments with a clear individual intent were voted down/
It is a shame of how the gov and judicial branches put their party/political beliefs ahead of the constituion.
the power of the fed gov is far too high, look at how bush has expanded/abused his executive powers.
Hands off, and no more hand outs and pork barrell spending. No more foriegn intervention. No more playing world police. No more ridiculous amounts of spending.
America needs to return to the rugged individualism that founded our nation and lessen the reliance on the gov. We are capable of solving many issues on our own.
Economically, be frugal and smart. Don’t but houses just because its bigger, don’t sign a preditory loan just because you think you may be able to pay it off. Use public transportation, go to cc or a state school, drive a smaller car, if you don’t have insurance, get rid of cable, internet, tv and cell phone, be a responsible parent, don’t have kids if you can’t afford them.
It’s not the gov fault people make stupid decisions, and they shouldn’t have to solve those problems/</p>