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I'm a Social Democrat which makes me very liberal insofar as US politics is concerned (I'm on the far left wing of the Democratic Party). However, if I lived in Europe I'd be considered rather mainstream. Basically, I believe that unbridled capitalism places efficiency as the ultimate goal of society and makes all other goals secondary. At the risk of being overly simplistic, I believe that equality and fairness should be placed at least at an equal level with efficiency. I believe that in a world with such great productive capacity and technological capabilities, extreme poverty shouldn't exist. No one should go without adequate nutrition, no one should be denied essential and basic healthcare and everyone should be guaranteed some minimum level of shelter. All children should have an equal opportunity to receive a good education regardless of where they live and how much money their parents make. I believe that governments have a duty to their citizens to ensure that these goals are met and to ensure that while the markets should be allowed to function properly, their excesses should be controlled so no one is left so far behind that they have no ability to improve their lot in life.
I believe that conservatives who make the argument that welfare benefits people who aren't willing to work hard enough ignore many things. First of all, they ignore the fact that peoples early life experiences have a major impact on what they are able to achieve. If you are born to a poor family and are subject to neglect, poor healthcare, inadequate nutrition and education chances are you aren't going to learn to become a functioning adult or you won't ever have the opportunity to get a really good job. It ignores the fact that the children of those people who don't work hard enough are also going to suffer and those children are going to learn to be like their parents, left behind by society. It ignores that many individuals are born wealthy and inherit substantial wealth and therefore have a significant headstart. It ignores that all work isn't valued equally or fairly by the market. Something is wrong with the system when a professional baseball player can make a couple million dollars in one year playing a game while an inner city school teacher or free clinic healthcare worker can barely make enough to make ends meet. I believe that the government should step in to remedy these market imperfections and help those who need it.
As like many wise people are, I am a conservative.
We conservatives know that liberalism doesn't work.
It's a bit sad that you have to put down people who are of a different political persuasion than you. There are plenty of intelligent people and long traditions of intellectual development on both sides of the political spectrum. If liberalism didn't work, countries like Sweden and Iceland wouldn't be on the top of the UN's Human Development Index. Furthermore, even many individuals within the international development community who are ardent conservatives when it comes to domestic policy support many liberal policies when it comes to development in the developing world. Many conservative approaches were championed by the World Bank and IMF in the 1970s and 1980s, much of them failed (and some didn't). Today these institutions, hardly bastions of liberalism and largely dominated by conservative thinkers, actually champion many aspects of the human development approach, which is quite liberal, insofar as the development process is concerned. It's really pointless to simply insult the people of different political beliefs because it assumes you already have it all figured out and are perfectly right, which, of course, you aren't. All sides have something to contribute and a healthy debate and dialogue between opposing sides leads to progress and intellectual development, things which are hindered by simply insulting the other side.
It's a bit sad that you have to put down people who are of a different political persuasion than you. There are plenty of intelligent people and long traditions of intellectual development on both sides of the political spectrum. If liberalism didn't work, countries like Sweden and Iceland wouldn't be on the top of the UN's Human Development Index. Furthermore, even many individuals within the international development community who are ardent conservatives when it comes to domestic policy support many liberal policies when it comes to development in the developing world. Many conservative approaches were championed by the World Bank and IMF in the 1970s and 1980s, much of them failed (and some didn't). Today these institutions, hardly bastions of liberalism and largely dominated by conservative thinkers, actually champion many aspects of the human development approach, which is quite liberal, insofar as the development process is concerned. It's really pointless to simply insult the people of different political beliefs because it assumes you already have it all figured out and are perfectly right, which, of course, you aren't. All sides have something to contribute and a healthy debate and dialogue between opposing sides leads to progress and intellectual development, things which are hindered by simply insulting the other side.
What insult? Is he not entitled to his opinion here in the United States of the Offended?
Just curious if anybody feels the same way. I hear all of the various political labels such as right wing left wing, conservative, liberal etc etc. I feel confused because I have views that seem to contradict typical labels. I might feel conservative about one subject then liberal about the next. I suppose most people do as well. I was just thinking that if I had to label myself I'd be a little confused maybe a conserberal LOL
Don't feel too bad, i'm not sure of my "label" either.
The problem is that it is the people who want to legalize the ownership of nuclear weapons, the Ron Paul cult, and Ayn Rand fans that are usually associated with libertarianism.
I think everyone is aware that I am proponent of individual opportunity and liberty within the framework of a socialist economy.
I feel that a society that has people sleeping in doorways winter and summer in a city that includes multimillionaire capitalists to be an insult to all our humanity. I also wonder why we have borrowed billions from the extremely wealthy when we could have taken the money through a progressive tax system. I think it is ironic that all the individual welfare systems we have are dwarfed by our system of corporate welfare based on tax breaks and no bid contracting.
I am very much in agreement with social Dem. I do not believe that the Christian God rewards hard work over being a good and kind person. Mammon rewards the privileged with wealth and power during this lifetime but with an unknown cost in the next. Liberty encompasses more than the pursuit of wealth. It also includes living without stress while taking care of other people.
I am a staunch conservative. We seek a limited government that seeks to protect and lead and not to provide. We seek responsible fiscal policy. We seek opportunity in terms of business. We seek to be able to practice ANY religion that we so choose without government and left wing oppression of said religion. We believe in charity before government handouts. We don't want authoritative figures as we don't want to be ruled, we want leaders. We think that large government is oppressive and seeks to make people SLAVES to the state, not individuals, and we certainly don't believe in one state. We are all for freedom of thought but just because you disagree with what you say doesn't give you the right to try and stifle what we have to say. And we also believe in freedom of speech but that there are consequences to that freedom of speech. We believe in personal responsibility and individualism, but altruism first and foremost, simply because we were raised that way and we hope to foster that mentality. We don't think it takes a village to raise a child, we think it take some responsible parents who will take the time to devote to their children. We believe in education and we believe proper education starts in the home.
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Very left-wing liberal here...
