Columbusite
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2005
- Messages
- 808
- Reaction score
- 6
- Location
- Columbus
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Very Liberal
All over this site people, myself included, have to varying degrees improperly used certain adjectives incorrectly to describe others political beliefs. I think we need to come to some sort of common ground on this before moving on to any further topics to avoid confusion. So many labels have baggage attached that really shouldn't be there. Whether it be "liberal" or "conservative". Before we start stamping all sorts of labels on one another, we should decide what the labels we use should be centered upon. I think we should center them around how much freedom one supports in their society.
On the one end of the spectrum there is anarchism and the other totalitarianism. This is the context I am using when I describe myself as a liberal. For me, I want as much freedom as possible without going as far as anarchy. The term "conservative" doesn't mean anything in this context without detailing what it is that is being conserved. If you think the government should be able to liberally execute anyone they want, you're not a liberal. If you seek to conserve the idea that "all men are created equal" by supporting the equal treatment of all citizens by the government I would say that is liberal, so long as that equality guarantees lots of freedom for everyone. If you want to conserve an idea that makes some citizens 2nd class-citizens under the government, that is authoritiran. So what do you all think? Is it possible to come to some sort of agreement on what we should base our labelling on? Or are we going to have to clarify each and every time we post what we mean when we say "___" in this or that context? This should be interesting nontheless.
On the one end of the spectrum there is anarchism and the other totalitarianism. This is the context I am using when I describe myself as a liberal. For me, I want as much freedom as possible without going as far as anarchy. The term "conservative" doesn't mean anything in this context without detailing what it is that is being conserved. If you think the government should be able to liberally execute anyone they want, you're not a liberal. If you seek to conserve the idea that "all men are created equal" by supporting the equal treatment of all citizens by the government I would say that is liberal, so long as that equality guarantees lots of freedom for everyone. If you want to conserve an idea that makes some citizens 2nd class-citizens under the government, that is authoritiran. So what do you all think? Is it possible to come to some sort of agreement on what we should base our labelling on? Or are we going to have to clarify each and every time we post what we mean when we say "___" in this or that context? This should be interesting nontheless.