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Define "Liberal"?

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fair minded

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I am a liberal and I am darn proud to say it.

However, modern leftists have taken it upon themselves to redefine many words.

Liberals want the power concentrated at the level closest to the people as possible.

Our Nation was the greatest "Liberal" form of government ever established.

The liberals who founded our nation wanted the Federal Government to be severely restricted.
They would do only the things that the local government and the people could not do for themselves.

We could not defend ourselves against other forms of government. Only a huge bureaucracy could do that.
If you think our military is not a huge wasteful organization you are kidding yourself.

The Military wastes a ton of money but we accept it because without the military, we would be treated as the people of Ukraine are being treated by Russia today.

It would be very difficult to have 50 different currencies so we do need a Department of Treasury.

Liberals believe that the power belongs to the people if at all possible.

Leftist groups, like Communists and Nazi's, want the Federal Government to have any power they can possibly have.
They want the people to have only the power over things the government can not possibly hope to control.

I am Conservative because my liberal beliefs cause me to be conservative. We should do liberal things conservatively. (Because conservatives seem to do things better.)
Common sense conservatives doing liberal things is the best way to get good things done.

Everything our founders did was in an attempt to free the people from oppressive governments.

Everything the leftists want to do would enslave the people and give all the control to a huge bureaucracy in Washington.

We have seen leftist governments ruin everything they touch. We know what leftists have to Cuba, Russia, China, and Iran.
 
Liberals destroyed the term liberal
 
fair minded said:
I am a liberal and I am darn proud to say it.

However, modern leftists have taken it upon themselves to redefine many words.

Liberals want the power concentrated at the level closest to the people as possible.

Our Nation was the greatest "Liberal" form of government ever established.

The liberals who founded our nation wanted the Federal Government to be severely restricted.
They would do only the things that the local government and the people could not do for themselves.

We could not defend ourselves against other forms of government. Only a huge bureaucracy could do that.
If you think our military is not a huge wasteful organization you are kidding yourself.

The Military wastes a ton of money but we accept it because without the military, we would be treated as the people of Ukraine are being treated by Russia today.

It would be very difficult to have 50 different currencies so we do need a Department of Treasury.

Liberals believe that the power belongs to the people if at all possible.

Leftist groups, like Communists and Nazi's, want the Federal Government to have any power they can possibly have.
They want the people to have only the power over things the government can not possibly hope to control.

I am Conservative because my liberal beliefs cause me to be conservative. We should do liberal things conservatively. (Because conservatives seem to do things better.)
Common sense conservatives doing liberal things is the best way to get good things done.

Everything our founders did was in an attempt to free the people from oppressive governments.

Everything the leftists want to do would enslave the people and give all the control to a huge bureaucracy in Washington.

We have seen leftist governments ruin everything they touch. We know what leftists have to Cuba, Russia, China, and Iran.
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Only liberals can define "liberal" since they are the ones who created that label...and they simply cannot agree on anything. (except Trump/Republicans bad)
 


This is the best definition for liberal I have come across. It works in any historical or cultural context as far as I can tell.
 
Liberals and leftists are different animals.
 
fair minded said:
I am a liberal and I am darn proud to say it.

However, modern leftists have taken it upon themselves to redefine many words.

Liberals want the power concentrated at the level closest to the people as possible.

Our Nation was the greatest "Liberal" form of government ever established.

The liberals who founded our nation wanted the Federal Government to be severely restricted.
They would do only the things that the local government and the people could not do for themselves.

We could not defend ourselves against other forms of government. Only a huge bureaucracy could do that.
If you think our military is not a huge wasteful organization you are kidding yourself.

The Military wastes a ton of money but we accept it because without the military, we would be treated as the people of Ukraine are being treated by Russia today.

It would be very difficult to have 50 different currencies so we do need a Department of Treasury.

Liberals believe that the power belongs to the people if at all possible.

Leftist groups, like Communists and Nazi's, want the Federal Government to have any power they can possibly have.
They want the people to have only the power over things the government can not possibly hope to control.

I am Conservative because my liberal beliefs cause me to be conservative. We should do liberal things conservatively. (Because conservatives seem to do things better.)
Common sense conservatives doing liberal things is the best way to get good things done.

Everything our founders did was in an attempt to free the people from oppressive governments.

Everything the leftists want to do would enslave the people and give all the control to a huge bureaucracy in Washington.

We have seen leftist governments ruin everything they touch. We know what leftists have to Cuba, Russia, China, and Iran.
Click to expand...
Define liberal?

Socially responsible.
 
In common vernacular the word is meaningless.

From a political science perspective liberal is short for someone who holds the values of liberalism. Liberalism is a broad umbrella term that resulted from the thinking of the enlightenment. Some of the core beliefs of liberalism (and therefore liberals) is a belief in democracy and the democratic process, a fair and just court system, property rights and a market economy, civil rights and protections (free speech, freedom of religion, etc), free trade, and being generally opposed to Monarchism.

Most countries today are liberal and largely believe in liberalism. Both US parties (though I would argue increasingly less so for the GOP) are liberals. It is a very broad umbrella term that pretty much covers most modern political philosophy.

fair minded said:
Leftist groups, like Communists and Nazi's, want the Federal Government to have any power they can possibly have.
Click to expand...
A political science student somewhere just got a unexplained splitting headache caused psychic disturbance that resulted directly emanated from the typing of such an uninformed sentence.
 
fair minded said:
I am a liberal and I am darn proud to say it.

However, modern leftists have taken it upon themselves to redefine many words.
Click to expand...
It‘s not just Liberals. No one is who they label themselves as anymore.

“Conservatives” aren’t the Teddy Roosevelt conversationalists of natural resources, smaller government, even playing fields where the little guy can compete with the bigger based on innovation (who has the better mousetrap. They are Neo-cons and even more so, corporatists.

Liberals don’t fight for freedom of speech and equality under the law. They fight to control so each, ‘cancel” others, and fight social justice wars based on their notion of justice that likely has little to do with actual justice.

Libertarians aren‘t freedom lovers and Constitutionalists, but anarchists and White Nationalists.

We live in a nation where it is anyone’s right to take any word or label and insist it be defines as we prescribe it. Regardless of its historical or literal context.

Which means it all means very little these days.
 
Nomad4Ever said:
In common vernacular the word is meaningless.

From a political science perspective liberal is short for someone who holds the values of liberalism. Liberalism is a broad umbrella term that resulted from the thinking of the enlightenment. Some of the core beliefs of liberalism (and therefore liberals) is a belief in democracy and the democratic process, a fair and just court system, property rights and a market economy, civil rights and protections (free speech, freedom of religion, etc), free trade, and being generally opposed to Monarchism.

Most countries today are liberal and largely believe in liberalism. Both US parties (though I would argue increasingly less so for the GOP) are liberals. It is a very broad umbrella term that pretty much covers most modern political philosophy.


A political science student somewhere just got a unexplained splitting headache caused psychic disturbance that resulted directly emanated from the typing of such an uninformed sentence.
Click to expand...
Nomad4Ever said:
In common vernacular the word is meaningless.

From a political science perspective liberal is short for someone who holds the values of liberalism. Liberalism is a broad umbrella term that resulted from the thinking of the enlightenment. Some of the core beliefs of liberalism (and therefore liberals) is a belief in democracy and the democratic process, a fair and just court system, property rights and a market economy, civil rights and protections (free speech, freedom of religion, etc), free trade, and being generally opposed to Monarchism.

Most countries today are liberal and largely believe in liberalism. Both US parties (though I would argue increasingly less so for the GOP) are liberals. It is a very broad umbrella term that pretty much covers most modern political philosophy.


A political science student somewhere just got a unexplained splitting headache caused psychic disturbance that resulted directly emanated from the typing of such an uninformed sentence.
Click to expand...

So if liberal means that you believe in the freedom of speech, how come leftists, who call themselves liberal shout down any speaker on college campuses who disagree with them?

How come every conservative talk show guy invites any leftist to debate on his talk show? And how come no leftist is willing to debate any conservative?

If leftists who claim to be liberal actually believed in free speech they would welcome the flow of new ideas on their college campus. They would jump at the chance to debate someone with an opposing view.

Their ability to think rationally would allow them to have leftist talk shows.

Every Sunday the major media has discussion shows that include as many as five people debating how much they hate Donald Trump. Not one of the five has anything nice to say about Donald Trump. If Trump is supported by a third of the American people, how come 100 million people get no representation on National political discussion shows?

Sorry friend but you show no rational thought when it comes to who believes in free speech.

My guess is that you know that your leaders can't match conservative thought leaders so you simply shout them down instead of trying to have a real debate over the issues.
 
fair minded said:
And how come no leftist is willing to debate any conservative?
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fair minded said:
If leftists who claim to be liberal actually believed in free speech they would welcome the flow of new ideas on their college campus. They would jump at the chance to debate someone with an opposing view.
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Where do you think things like critical race theory came from? They were part of the flow of new ideas that were developed and debated. You don't like the new ideas. You like the old ones.

fair minded said:
Their ability to think rationally would allow them to have leftist talk shows.
Click to expand...

fair minded said:
Every Sunday the major media has discussion shows that include as many as five people debating how much they hate Donald Trump.
Click to expand...
You do realize Fox News is like...a massive news and discussion network, right?

fair minded said:
My guess is that you know that your leaders can't match conservative thought leaders so you simply shout them down instead of trying to have a real debate over the issues.
Click to expand...
The average thought from a conservative thought leader can be deconstructed by anyone with a wikipedia level of knowledge on the subject. Maybe watch the debates I linked. I have no idea why you think leftists don't debate conservatives.
 
reflechissez said:
Rachel Maddow has invited many. For some reason, they won't do it.
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They are used to debating teenagers who can be bullied by someone talking louder than them. If they had their ideas challenged by an actual adult it would become immediately apparent how childish they are themselves.
 
I am 85 years old, so I am old enough to remember when "liberal" was another word for "communist."

So ALL politicians denied that they were "liberal."

Today there are still some genuine liberals.

Others call themselves "liberals," but they are much too extreme to legitimately claim that title.

When I was young, the ACLU was truly liberal: It famously demanded the right of anti-Semites to march through a Jewish neighborhood; it told young people to challenge the police in the courts, not the street; it objected to the entrapment of gay people; etc.

I dropped my ACLU membership in the 1990s, when I felt that it was going too far left.

I believe that genuine liberals would NOT have banned people who questioned the 2020 election results and various ideas about COVID.

Today's "liberals," however say that it is perfectly OK to ban "misinformation." No doubt they are delighted by a court's recent ruling that Internet websites can ban comments they do not like. (Just as China does.)
 
Nomad4Ever said:
They are used to debating teenagers who can be bullied by someone talking louder than them. If they had their ideas challenged by an actual adult it would become immediately apparent how childish they are themselves.
Click to expand...

So why are your leaders afraid to debate?

You guys gave up on rational thought when William F Buckley totally disproved all of your theories.

Saying that our guys only win because none of your adults have the courage to stand and fight is rather silly.
 
fair minded said:
So why are your leaders afraid to debate?

You guys gave up on rational thought when William F Buckley totally disproved all of your theories.

Saying that our guys only win because none of your adults have the courage to stand and fight is rather silly.
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Why are yours?
 
TheParser said:
I am 85 years old, so I am old enough to remember when "liberal" was another word for "communist."

So ALL politicians denied that they were "liberal."

Today there are still some genuine liberals.

Others call themselves "liberals," but they are much too extreme to legitimately claim that title.

When I was young, the ACLU was truly liberal: It famously demanded the right of anti-Semites to march through a Jewish neighborhood; it told young people to challenge the police in the courts, not the street; it objected to the entrapment of gay people; etc.

I dropped my ACLU membership in the 1990s, when I felt that it was going too far left.

I believe that genuine liberals would NOT have banned people who questioned the 2020 election results and various ideas about COVID.

Today's "liberals," however say that it is perfectly OK to ban "misinformation." No doubt they are delighted by a court's recent ruling that Internet websites can ban comments they do not like. (Just as China does.)
Click to expand...
Great post, but didn't they deny that they were liberals because the American People got sick of the terrible crime and high prices they were causing?
I think it was the total failure of the ideas they were pushing that caused them to change their name. (Much like a child molester might change his name after getting caught.)
 
fair minded said:
Great post, but didn't they deny that they were liberals because the American People got sick of the terrible crime and high prices they were causing?
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I do not know whether liberals caused crime and high prices.

I am speaking about those liberals after World War II, some of whom were indeed former communists (they had joined in the 1930s).

You remember the witch hunts of the 1950s and the notorious Senator McCarthy.

I do not know when politicians proudly started to admit that they were indeed "liberals."

Today some people spit out the words "liberal" and "conservative" with contempt.

But people who are genuine liberals or conservatives are good people, and they should be proud of themselves. (For example, genuine conservatives probably do NOT oppose renaming those army bases. They realize that what was appropriate for one era is not necessarily appropriate now. And genuine liberals would have restricted themselves to explaining why President Trump's policies were unhelpful, instead of wanting to discuss his personal life.)
 
Lloyd Christmas said:
No, you are just yet another unoriginal right winger trolling and who tries to claim they are liberal while spreading moronic propaganda void of any facts or intelligence.
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Reminds me of a lot of “classical liberals”
 
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