During the past election year I have spent a lot of time determining if I am conservative or liberal. I am finding that I reside somewhere in the middle at this point. I came across a post today about being liberal though and I found myself agreeing with this definition of liberal. After reading this can you call yourself a liberal? Personally I can say 100% that I am a liberal if this is the definition. Read on...
A pure liberal stands up to an error made and strives to correct it. He/she recognizes that there are always at least two sides to a story, and does not defend just a particular one because of political or economical gain.
I’m liberal because I am:
flexible
reflective
tolerant of others beliefs, opinions and faith
open to novel ideas
honor the truth
Or, as compiled from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language and Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry; independent in opinion Having political or social views favoring reform and progress Tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded. Not narrow or contracted in mind; not selfish; enlarged in spirit; Friendly to great freedom in the constitution or administration of government; having tendency toward democratic or republican, as distinguished from monarchical or aristocratic, forms… Obsolete. Morally unrestrained; licentious.
I’m a liberal because I am not:
bigoted
arrogant
fearful
racist
dogmatic
revengeful or mean
self-satisfied
close-minded
Article comments
1 - jb
Do some more research on the political definitions of liberal and conservative. You are OBVIOUSLY really confused about both. I am clearly not liberal by my very clear understanding of my political philosophy. However, by your "definition", I would be freakin' Ted Kennedy liberal!
A good book to help you sort through the issues and understand your leanings is "The Political Junkie Handbook". Hope this helps --
2 - urthshu
Technically speaking, in the US, both parties are "liberal" since the Constitution is a Classically Liberal document.
The argument is over how to apply it and how far each can denigrate the other's interpretations of it.
Classic liberalism is substantially different in character from the modern variant perjoratively [and wrongly, in my opinion] called 'liberalism'.
3 - Yensid
Yes, I have the Political Handbook. It is highly recommended for anyone even slightly interested in politics. thanks. You want to tell me why I am SO confused?
4 - andy marsh
You're so confused BECAUSE you have the politaical handbook!!!
5 - Yensid
Does someone want to tell me why everyone is so informed and sure that they know everything? How is it that everyone is so fast to drop a good stab without offering an honest comment?
6 - urthshu
An honest comment to what, if I may ask? Your post was a statement, not a commentary or question.
7 - RJ
"During the past election year I have spent a lot of time determining if I am conservative or liberal."
Wasted time: You're liberal.
8 - Vic
From dictionary.com, one of the definitions of "conservative" which applies to me:
One favoring traditional views and values.
And as to your comments:
I’m a liberal because I am not:
bigoted
arrogant
fearful
racist
dogmatic
revengeful or mean
self-satisfied
close-minded
You are implying that Conservatives are all of the above. So you are in effect, contradicting yourself since what you are implying above is indeed:
bigoted
arrogant
revengeful or mean
&
self-satisfied
But hey, it's the Republicans who have divided this country, right?
Vic
9 - Victor Plenty
No conservatives have any power in American politics today.
The supporters of Bush and the supporters of Kerry, the supporters of Nader and the supporters of Buchanan, the Libertarians and the Greens, the Socialists and the Constitutionalists, all of these are promoting variants of liberalism.
In modern American politics, the term "conservative" has no coherent meaning. It is like a label reading "100% USDA Grade A Beef" which has been slapped onto a package containing nothing but textured soy protein. The fact of the matter is, there is nothing remotely conservative about the ideology of the right wing.
Likewise, "liberal" no longer has any coherent meaning either, having been almost entirely twisted into a hateful slur, despite the left wing's anemic efforts to reclaim the word's former honorable meaning, now relegated to the dry academic phrase "classical liberalism."
I'm able to talk about this with some slight objectivity, being myself neither "liberal" in its classical or contemporary senses, nor what passes for "conservative" these days either.
Beyond that, I also refuse to place myself "between" them, because the idea of a one-dimensional continuum between the two ideologies is in itself a deception. Restricting our thoughts to an oversimplified choice between "left" or "right" excessively limits our conversations about the many possible ways people can organize our own conduct.
10 - SFC Ski
So are you full of sound and fury, signifying nothing? Does your one dimensional continuum come to a point? If you were a tree, what kind would you be, and does the choice of deciduous or coniferous imply a political choice? Either put down the pipe and gain coherency, or smake a bit more and pass out.
11 - SFC Ski
BTW, that was for Victor.
12 - Victor Plenty
If you want me to take a side for or against you and your favorite ideology, you will remain disappointed and frustrated, SFC Ski.
If you want to have a genuine conversation that isn't aimed at pigeonholing me into some easily dismissed stereotype, you and I might learn something from one another.
I'd be interested in learning from you, if you are willing to teach me something more than your skill at expressing contempt.
13 - boomcrashbaby
I agree Victor, that what is leading the Republican party now is not conservative. It is elitism. And yes, people on the right have completely destroyed the word liberal, beyond it's original intent and the attempt to gain it back has faultered which is why the word was such an anathema during the election. Many of us now call ourselves progressives, but it is still liberal ideology.
I consider myself a progressive because I believe in the values of humanitarism, charity, being a good samaritan and free will/freedom of choice. These values put me to the left of center, but farther right than socialism.
I agree also, that there are so many ideologies out there, one conservative does not hold the values of another, any more than I would hold the values of someone far more radical than me. However, come election time, Victor, it does boil down to the two ideologies and none else.
The ultra-paleo-con's like Dobson or Robertson end up voting for the same person that a VERY moderate conservative will vote for too, because only so many candidates with a viable chance at winning will be an option. (at this point and probably for the rest of my life, that would be two only). Differing conservative ideologies might make two people different, but their vote makes them the same to me.
(This election is also moving me farther to the left, but that is another story).
14 - Victor Plenty
Boomcrash, your point supports the secret ballot, more than any simplified division of ideologies.
Each vote may force us to choose between two candidates, but almost every election gives us more than one vote. Our votes do not have to follow a straight ticket party line in every election.
For example, the same voter who puts a Republican into the Presidency can also put Democrats into the Senate and the House. (Or vice versa.) This can effectively signal lack of full approval for any of them, forcing the two parties to get beyond their ideologies in order to accomplish anything.
By lumping together every person who voted for Bush under the same narrow "right-wing" label, you limit the possibilities for dialogue between yourself and them, reducing your chances to persuade any of them that they might want to vote differently in future elections.
We must all remember that the simple act of voting is not the only way to participate in our society and its governance. There are many other ways to make our voices heard and have our actions make a difference to our country.
In particular, arenas like this one here on Blogcritics give us a marvelous opportunity to revive the skill of respectful human conversation between people whose ideologies differ. If we do that, we can all work together in countless ways.
Working together is the best way to meet all the needs our country continues to have, even in between election seasons.
15 - boomcrashbaby
There are many other ways to make our voices heard and have our actions make a difference to our country.
Yes, we've been told that the best way to reach people is to open our homes, to let them see how we live and raise families. So that is what many of us are doing via blogging. But I'm not stupid, this country is going WAAAAAY to the right, via mandates, political capital or whatever you want to call it, this country has chosen a direction that cannot be simply undone with another voting cycle.
And also, if I hold my daughter in public and my partner shows some affection, by putting his hand on my back or whatever, people have no problem looking into my face, with my child right there in my arms and saying 'disgusting'. I am 40. The rest of my life isn't enough time to get these people to understand the difference between tolerance and acceptance.
Working together is the best way to meet all the needs our country continues to have, even in between election seasons
I am becoming (have become?) too disillusioned. In Iowa just within the last few days, a case was settled where 5 parents sued a school district to have books removed from the 8th grade class that reference homosexuality. 4 of those parents did not even have kids in that school! Conservatives are boycotting proctor & gamble because they perceive it as being gay tolerant. Conservatives are putting pressure on Wynonna Judd to not perform for a lesbian audience. In Idaho just this September, a court ruled that a gay man cannot live with his partner if he wants to have custody of his own flesh-and-blood kids. He had to buy a trailer and put it in the front yard for his partner to live in.
This isn't just about marriage, to conservatives. They want NO acknowledgement of us, NO acknowledgement of our children, NOTHING WHATSOEVER. Acceptance is out of the question, even tolerance is now unattainable.
Conservatives want performers to only perform to audiences who are Christian apparently. Conservatives want OUR children to go to schools that do not acknowledge their parents. What am I supposed to do, remind these Christians of Jesus's tolerance? Yeah right, conservatives believe God is on the side of the political party that panders to big business, conservatives believe God favors a growing economic gap in this country and individuals hoarding wealth while those around them go hungry.
I'm not going to be able to reach out to anybody.
Look at this utter garbage posing as a blog here:
"liberal pundits are trying to de-legitimize the Republican win and guilt-trip the Bush administration into watering down its second-term agenda by "reaching out to Democrats" and helping "unite a divided country.""
There it is folks, try to unite a divided country? Hah, yeah right, such a thought is apparently nothing more than an attempted guilt trip.
No, my only hope was through Lady Liberty, NOT through reaching out to those who would cut my hand off. But conservatives have replaced Liberty's blindfold with a full blown bondage mask.
Should a judge determine that what one person gets via the government, another person should get it too, now those judges are under attack for being activists and there is a lot of work to get those judges removed. Justice and Equality and Liberty, these were supposed to be on my side. But whenever they are, conservatives attack them too, all in the name of God. There is no middle ground in this culture war. You have to pick a side and you have to stand by your side.