What Happened To The Word "liberal" In The Us?

[Barack_Obama 0]

Do people even know what liberalism_is_any more? Please read: Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value.Liberalism has its roots in the Western Age of Enlightenment, but the term has taken on different meanings in different time periods; Today in America you compare it to new liberalism, while in the entire world in general, we refer to classical liberalism.Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes individual rights. It seeks a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on power (especially of government and religion), the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy that supports free private enterprise, and a transparent system of government in which the rights of all citizens are protected. In modern society, liberals favor a liberal democracy with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law and an equal opportunity to succeed.Many new liberals advocate a greater degree of government interference in the free market, often in the form of anti-discrimination laws, universal education, and progressive taxation. This philosophy frequently extends to a belief that the government should provide for a degree of general welfare, including benefits for the unemployed, housing for the homeless, and medical care for the sick. Such publicly-funded initiatives and interferences in the market are rejected by modern advocates of classical liberalism, which emphasizes free private enterprise, individual property rights and freedom of contract; classical liberals hold that economic inequality, as arising naturally from competition in the free market, does not justify the violation of private property rights.Liberalism rejected many foundational assumptions which dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, and established religion. Fundamental human rights that all liberals support include the right to life, liberty, and property.A broader use of the term liberalism is in the context of liberal democracy, in this sense of the word, it refers to a democracy in which the powers of government are limited and the rights of citizens are legally defined; this applies to nearly all Western democracies, and therefore is not solely associated with liberal parties.So you can see that your country is founded, built and reached the peak that its at because of liberalism, yet, the word has become smeared ever since Reagen and the GOP control of congress in the nineties.

[Barack_Obama 0]

No comments?

[chrozzo 19]

i just burnt my tongue

[Balloon guy 158]

The reason the title liberal now has a bad connontation is because the people who call themselves liberals are really socialist/communist.So they ruined the word, not the conservatives.Look up the word conservative and tell me you think that is the same as how it is used today in the media.

[Mr. DNA 0]

The reason the title liberal now has a bad connontation is because the people who call themselves liberals are really socialist/communist.

Is there no end to your complete and utter idiocy? I consider myself liberal. I am not a communist, nor a socialist. Daniel Negreanu, the guy whose web-site we are members of and whose blog we read, would consider himself to be a liberal. I suggest you go and post at the KKK web-site, or join the National Front. That would be much more to your tastes than mild-mannered, liberal-minded Daniel Negreanu.

[Zealous Donkey 0]

The reason the title liberal now has a bad connontation is because the people who call themselves liberals are really socialist/communist.So they ruined the word, not the conservatives.Look up the word conservative and tell me you think that is the same as how it is used today in the media.

Absolutely correct. I actually respect real liberals, Chris Hitchens, Nat Hentoff, LongLiveYorke, ect.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

The reason the title liberal now has a bad connontation is because the people who call themselves liberals are really socialist/communist.

Yeah, come on man! I'm a liberal, and I'm only partially a socialist, and not that much of a communist at all!

[Livaso 0]

The reason the title liberal now has a bad connontation is because the people who call themselves liberals are really socialist/communist.So they ruined the word, not the conservatives.Look up the word conservative and tell me you think that is the same as how it is used today in the media.

This was for the most part my reply but I was planning on being a jerk and saying "College freshmen"People that call themselves liberals talk in a way that induces eye rolling in a very large percentage of the population. It becomes synonymous in people's minds with naive teenagers.Just like conservatives have their apparent image which doesn't apply to actual conservatism.

[Balloon guy 158]

Is there no end to your complete and utter idiocy? I consider myself liberal. I am not a communist, nor a socialist. Daniel Negreanu, the guy whose web-site we are members of and whose blog we read, would consider himself to be a liberal. I suggest you go and post at the KKK web-site, or join the National Front. That would be much more to your tastes than mild-mannered, liberal-minded Daniel Negreanu.

No end in sight. But I can totaly see why you would think that since I accuse liberals of being socialist I am full of idiocy.But you saying I am a racist because I am a conservative, that's just good common sense.Good luck with 3rd grade, the questions get much harder.

[Balloon guy 158]

Yeah, come on man! I'm a liberal, and I'm only partially a socialist, and not that much of a communist at all!

Thanks for the honesty,Now be honest, you believe the reason communism has failed everytime it's been tried is because they didn't do it right.

[Zealous Donkey 0]

Yeah, come on man! I'm a liberal, and I'm only partially a socialist, and not that much of a communist at all!

Not talking about you or Daniel, but left wing of democratic party, 95% or more of college professors. Can you really dispute that? Scroll up Yorke, I edited my previous post.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

Thanks for the honesty,Now be honest, you believe the reason communism has failed everytime it's been tried is because they didn't do it right.

Nah, communism only works in a world with infinite resources and money. But I guess Mao and Stalin didn't really help its image all that much, did they?

[Livaso 0]

Nah, communism only works in a world with infinite resources and money. But I guess Mao and Stalin didn't really help it's image all that much, did they?

I don't think Marx helped that image much.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

Absolutely correct. I actually respect real liberals, Chris Hitchens, Nat Hentoff, LongLiveYorke, ect.

Thanks for the shout out.

[Mr. DNA 0]

balloon man, I think that you are in need of a little sociological/political crash-course. You stated:

the people who call themselves liberals are really socialist/communist.

This is absurd. You speak as if socialism and communism are interchangeable; indistinguishable from one another. This is not the case. I won't bother looking up dictionaries because you are more than capable of doing this yourself. For brevity, communism is a system whereby the government or state owns all the land in the country and is in charge of distributing the land as it sees fit, as well as managing its people in accordance to it's own whims. The doctrine of socialism, on the other hand , states that the wealth of a nation should be fairly distributed, but it in no way goes as far as the absurdity that is communism. For you to assert that people who call themselves liberal are communists shows you to be dangerously misinformed and more than a little bit silly.

But you saying I am a racist because I am a conservative, that's just good common sense.Good luck with 3rd grade, the questions get much harder.

I did not say that you were a racist. I made a snap-statement based on my prejudices towards imbeciles such as yourself who make snap decisions about 'liberals' as if they were some commie scum that has to be eradicated. You're not racist. Homophobic?

[Livaso 0]

"Mother of God," I thought "Here it comes."

[Mr. DNA 0]

"Mother of God," I thought "Here it comes."

I'm still waiting.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

I'm still waiting.

Uh, you posted your first one 5 minutes ago.

[Livaso 0]

I'm still waiting.

I meant that your reply signified the beginning of the end of this going anywhere. I can almost smell the 50th page already.

The doctrine of socialism, on the other hand , states that the wealth of a nation should be fairly distributed

by making people give up their wealth through some sort of government system which is still the polar opposite of conservatism.You're defending one system over the other when his statement said very clearly that "People that call themselves liberals tend to be Socialists/Communists" and like I said, a vast majority of the population roll their eyes to the kind of statements people that call themselves liberals make.Like calling people that are pro-states-rights racist homophobes.

[Mr. DNA 0]

I meant that your reply signified the beginning of the end of this going anywhere. I can almost smell the 50th page already.

Don't worry, I have a lot more important things to be doing with my time than waxing lyrical over 50 pages with lost causes like balloon man. He disappeared rather sharpish did he not?

by making people give up their wealth through some sort of government system which is still the polar opposite of conservatism.

Regardless of what your distaste may be for socialism, it is far from the doctrine of communism. That is what I was asserting, nothing more.

Like calling people that are pro-states-rights racist homophobes.

Please explain what you mean by pro-states-rights.Also, please forgive my tendency to paint Conservatives who don't understand the meaning of the term 'liberal' as racist homophobes. Clearly, there are a lot of racist homophobes in America who are Conservatives. There are even more who are not racist but who are homophobic. Living in Britain, my eyes tend to "roll" whenever I hear a Southern United States accent, such is the level of fundamentalist Christianity in that part of the world who treat gay people like second-class citizens. But the tendency in America to demonise those who would call themselves 'liberal' is rather shocking to British ears, as even the Conservatives here are a fairly liberal bunch.I admit that I posted rather quickly and imparted some of my own prejudices in this post when they were unwarranted. However, as I have stated, to British ears, hearing someone call liberals 'communists' is pretty shocking and that is what I was reacting to.

[Livaso 0]

Please explain what you mean by pro-states-rights.

The federal government should be involved in people's lives as little as possible leaving the governing to local branches. In other words, opposition to taxing people's labor and income in the form of income tax and beauocracy. This is the definition of conservatism. You do what you do and the government on a federal level doesn't get involved in your life.

Also, please forgive my tendency to paint Conservatives who don't understand the meaning of the term 'liberal' as racist homophobes. Clearly, there are a lot of racist homophobes in America who are Conservatives. There are even more who are not racist but who are homophobic. Living in Britain, my eyes tend to "roll" whenever I hear a Southern United States accent, such is the level of fundamentalist Christianity in that part of the world who treat gay people like second-class citizens. But the tendency in America to demonise those who would call themselves 'liberal' is rather shocking to British ears, as even the Conservatives here are a fairly liberal bunch.

You shouldn't build your opinions on subjects based on stereotypes. Its an ignorant assumption to make. And it leads people to judge incorrectly about yourself since you're portraying yourself in an ignorant way, which isn't fair to you.

I admit that I posted rather quickly and imparted some of my own prejudices in this post when they were unwarranted. However, as I have stated, to British ears, hearing someone call liberals 'communists' is pretty shocking and that is what I was reacting to.

Understandable. The terminology is different in the commonwealth. I know it is in Canada and I imagine its the same in Britain and Australia. Liberalism is big government while Conservatism is small government, extreme liberalism is communism and extreme conservatism is fascism. Fascism and communism are more closely related than liberalism and conservatism while Republicans and Democrats are none of the above, just flimsy representations and last choice resorts for voting sake. If you don't understand the concept of pro-state's rights from an economic standpoint you can't begin to understand why liberalism is given a bad rap in the US and why its (incorrectly) associated with Communism and Socialism because of the people that label themselves it.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

The federal government should be involved in people's lives as little as possible leaving the governing to local branches. In other words, opposition to taxing people's labor and income in the form of income tax and beauocracy. This is the definition of conservatism. You do what you do and the government on a federal level doesn't get involved in your life.

This, using the modern version of words, seems to be closer to libertarianism than modern conservatism. Right, hblask?

[Livaso 0]

This, using the modern version of words, seems to be closer to libertarianism than modern conservatism. Right, hblask?

Or paleo-conservatism. Libertarianism tends to regard the conservative doctrine on social issues more often. Either way they're related.Edit: Related in the topic of government policy, that is.

[Mr. DNA 0]

The federal government should be involved in people's lives as little as possible leaving the governing to local branches. In other words, opposition to taxing people's labor and income in the form of income tax and beauocracy. This is the definition of conservatism. You do what you do and the government on a federal level doesn't get involved in your life. You shouldn't build your opinions on subjects based on stereotypes. Its an ignorant assumption to make. And it leads people to judge incorrectly about yourself since you're portraying yourself in an ignorant way, which isn't fair to you.Understandable. The terminology is different in the commonwealth. I know it is in Canada and I imagine its the same in Britain and Australia. Liberalism is big government while Conservatism is small government, extreme liberalism is communism and extreme conservatism is fascism. Fascism and communism are more closely related than liberalism and conservatism while Republicans and Democrats are none of the above, just flimsy representations and last choice resorts for voting sake. If you don't understand the concept of pro-state's rights from an economic standpoint you can't begin to understand why liberalism is given a bad rap in the US and why its (incorrectly) associated with Communism and Socialism because of the people that label themselves it.

So if you're not a liberal or a conservative, what other labels can one attribute to oneself? I don't think that, using the American terminology, I would be either a liberal or a conservative...

[Livaso 0]

So if you're not a liberal or a conservative, what other labels can one attribute to oneself? I don't think that, using the American terminology, I would be either a liberal or a conservative...

Why should you have to?"Human being" tends to be the label i go with.Believe what you believe, since nobody is ever going to agree exactly the same way why try to fit it into that mold?