Liberal

Mikesev

Mikesev

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Jun 2, 2009
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Just curious, as the word seems to have an entirely different meaning in the US to Europe- what does it mean to be, or to call someone, a liberal in the US?

It often seems to be thrown around as someone who is pro-social justice, and government, which traditionally would be a position far from that advocated by a person traditionally liberal. An American libertarian, and probably many who consider themselves as right-wing conservatives could fall under the liberal umbrella in it's historic definition.

When did being a liberal become such a bad thing?
 


Mikesev said:
Just curious, as the word seems to have an entirely different meaning in the US to Europe- what does it mean to be, or to call someone, a liberal in the US?

It often seems to be thrown around as someone who is pro-social justice, and government, which traditionally would be a position far from that advocated by a person traditionally liberal. An American libertarian, and probably many who consider themselves as right-wing conservatives could fall under the liberal umbrella in it's historic definition.

When did being a liberal become such a bad thing?
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When Obama took office and the idiot American public realized that liberalism will bankrupt the next 3 generations of Americans to pay for extravagant and unnecessary and unchecked government expenditures and expansions targeted at the bottomfeeding 10-20% of the public.
 
invisible777 said:
When Obama took office and the idiot American public realized that liberalism will bankrupt the next 3 generations of Americans to pay for extravagant and unnecessary and unchecked government expenditures and expansions targeted at the bottomfeeding 10-20% of the public.
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*facepalm*

I guess if you want a textbook definition: broad-minded, usually more open to changes away from past trends, ie: not trying to conserve the what has been. Political aspect is obviously going to vary from generation to generation and country.
 
kblessinggr said:
*facepalm*

I guess if you want a textbook definition: broad-minded, usually more open to changes away from past trends, ie: not trying to conserve the what has been. Political aspect is obviously going to vary from generation to generation and country.
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That's the Webster's dictionary definition of the adjective "liberal". That word can easily be applied to many efforts undertaken by the conservative and moderate bodies of American politics. Nonetheless, the American public is getting a front row seat to a "liberal" government running up the credit card bill and handing it off to another generation. It's sick, reckless and irresponsible.
 
invisible777 said:
That's the Webster's dictionary definition of the adjective "liberal". That word can easily be applied to many efforts undertaken by the conservative and moderate bodies of American politics. Nonetheless, the American public is getting a front row seat to a "liberal" government running up the credit card bill and handing it off to another generation. It's sick, reckless and irresponsible.
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And next term if a conservative gets elected its gona be the same set of bashing and how a 'conservative' government gona ruin our economy. Just like how there's been plenty of Reagan, Bush Sr, Bush Jr, etc bashing. Seriously you can't boil most of the problems down to a simple "left/right fault".
 
Liberal, for a short definition, is some one who likes big government and limited personal freedoms.

All of them believe government is the answer to all problems. A lot of them believe the government can make better decisions for peoples' lives than people can. They believe that people are too stupid to make their own choices, so the govt' should make choices for them - mostly by regulating and taxes certain choices out of existence.

That is why Americans are concerned over this health care bill. It will allow the government to control, through regulation and taxes, certain behaviors such as soda, smoking, fried foods, and so on. If the government doesnt want people to eat certain foods or engage in certain behaviors, they can tax them so much people cant afford to do them. It is the ultimate in government control over personal freedom. Or....LIBERALISM
 
writtenstyle said:
Liberal, for a short definition, is some one who likes big government and limited personal freedoms.

All of them believe government is the answer to all problems. A lot of them believe the government can make better decisions for peoples' lives than people can. They believe that people are too stupid to make their own choices, so the govt' should make choices for them - mostly by regulating and taxes certain choices out of existence.

That is why Americans are concerned over this health care bill. It will allow the government to control, through regulation and taxes, certain behaviors such as soda, smoking, fried foods, and so on. If the government doesnt want people to eat certain foods or engage in certain behaviors, they can tax them so much people cant afford to do them. It is the ultimate in government control over personal freedom. Or....LIBERALISM
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Funny, I consider myself liberal, but somehow that doesn't define what I think or feel. I guess I must be more of an independent liberal, than a democrat liberal.

I suppose thats the conservative definition of what a liberal is. (though I wouldn't expect much different a conservative definition coming from a liberal).

Normally when someone uses identifiers such as 'all', 'everyone', 'always', 'never', they are usually talking out of their ass.
 
Liberalsim is a mental disorder and can only be treated and cured by:

1) Being responsible for someone else's life (family, children etc.)
2) Having a real career/job
3) Paying taxes

The above is what cured me from the liberal brainwashing conducted on me by socialist college professors.
 
popeye said:
Liberalsim is a mental disorder and can only be treated and cured by:

1) Being responsible for someone else's life (family, children etc.)
2) Having a real career/job
3) Paying taxes

The above is what cured me from the liberal brainwashing conducted on me by socialist college professors.
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1) I have 3 boys and a wife.
2) I freelance
3) 1099

try again.
 
Ok, lets try this

I
... approve of gay marriages
... disapprove of abortion (especially late term)
... feel people should pay taxes or the system can't work
... rather than free healtcare should be a plan where people can buy healthcare from the govt in order to cause competitive pricing with private insurers
... don't feel like there's a one-size-fit-all solution to unemployment
... do feel that 'most' people on welfare are fully capable of working
... don't feel that the US is a 'christian nation' even though it was originally founded on christian-like values.
... really couldn't give a damn if your name is John Smith, Hitler, or Saddam, as long as you do your job.
... feel that illegal immigration is like a slow invasion from mexico, but flat-out amnesty won't correct the problem, but somehow illegals without valid social security numbers are getting welfare, medicaid, etc when they shouldn't be. But at the same time I don't feel like they're criminals (not most anyways).

What does that make me? Liberal, Conservative, or just fucked in the head?
 
Mikesev said:
Just curious, as the word seems to have an entirely different meaning in the US to Europe- what does it mean to be, or to call someone, a liberal in the US?

It often seems to be thrown around as someone who is pro-social justice, and government, which traditionally would be a position far from that advocated by a person traditionally liberal. An American libertarian, and probably many who consider themselves as right-wing conservatives could fall under the liberal umbrella in it's historic definition.

When did being a liberal become such a bad thing?
Click to expand...

It's not just liberal that's used a pejorative term now. Look at how the meaning of 'conservative' has changed in the last couple of decades. Fifty years ago it meant someone who espoused low government interference and (in a social sense) traditional values. Now people use it to describe governments that interfere with markets but have heavy national security commitments.

Political terms get fucked around with by the media. 'Liberal' where I'm from means low taxes, high levels of personal freedom, and very little in the way of government regulations. In the United States it seems to mean the exact opposite.
 
popeye said:
Liberalsim is a mental disorder and can only be treated and cured by:

1) Being responsible for someone else's life (family, children etc.)
2) Having a real career/job
3) Paying taxes

The above is what cured me from the liberal brainwashing conducted on me by socialist college professors.
Click to expand...

#3, who enjoys paying taxes? Liberals want to pile on the taxes (on everyone else)
 
kblessinggr said:
Ok, lets try this

I
... approve of gay marriages
... disapprove of abortion (especially late term)
... feel people should pay taxes or the system can't work
... rather than free healtcare should be a plan where people can buy healthcare from the govt in order to cause competitive pricing with private insurers
... don't feel like there's a one-size-fit-all solution to unemployment
... do feel that 'most' people on welfare are fully capable of working
... don't feel that the US is a 'christian nation' even though it was originally founded on christian-like values.
... really couldn't give a damn if your name is John Smith, Hitler, or Saddam, as long as you do your job.
... feel that illegal immigration is like a slow invasion from mexico, but flat-out amnesty won't correct the problem, but somehow illegals without valid social security numbers are getting welfare, medicaid, etc when they shouldn't be. But at the same time I don't feel like they're criminals (not most anyways).

What does that make me? Liberal, Conservative, or just fucked in the head?
Click to expand...

Left-libertarian leaning. Also fucked in the head
 
Koschei said:
"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." - Norman Thomas, Leader of the the Socialist Party of America

Norman Thomas Quotes/Quotations

How Many Self Proclaimed Socialists Are In Our Congress? Here Are 70 Of Them!
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This.

Also:

The enemy, meaning the one world conspirators, have seized upon that word liberal as a cover-up for their activity. It sounds so innocent and so humanitarian to be liberal. Well make sure that the person who calls themself a liberal or is described as a liberal is not in truth a red. — Myron Fagan, 1967; The Illuminati Exposed
 
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