What is a liberal?

[peter samperos]

Recently interested in politics and trying to understand what a liberal is?

It seems their primary concerns are:
1. Protecting the following groups... african-americans, women, LGBT, Latinos, Native Americans, Muslims, disabled.
2. Keeping abortion rights for women.
3. Limiting access to guns.
4. Increase taxes on the wealthy.
5. Having open borders.
6. Secular, limit religious influence of politics.

Questions:
a. Why are liberals not interested in protecting all people that struggle, for example Vietnamese or Chinese that are struggling?
b. Don't liberals realize when they start defining groups based on race or religion those groups will eventually have elevated status? In other words if you are not of those groups eventually you will be considered an outsider?
c. Do liberals believe in open borders? That if everyone from the world began moving here it would be the best thing for the national economy and citizens?

 

[TNHarley]

Are you talking about real liberals or hippy liberals?

 

[saveliberty]

I thought a liberal was someone who feels uniquely qualified, due to being an intellectual elite, to redistribute other folk's income in an effort to further enslave the poor.

 

[peter samperos]

Are you talking about real liberals or hippy liberals?

What's the difference in beliefs between the two?

 

[TNHarley]

Are you talking about real liberals or hippy liberals?

What's the difference in beliefs between the two?

Real liberals value individual liberty, private property limited govt etc
Hippy liberals are not like that

 

[ThoughtCrimes]

Recently interested in politics and trying to understand what a liberal is?

It seems their primary concerns are:
1. Protecting the following groups... african-americans, women, LGBT, Latinos, Native Americans, Muslims, disabled.
2. Keeping abortion rights for women.
3. Limiting access to guns.
4. Increase taxes on the wealthy.
5. Having open borders.
6. Secular, limit religious influence of politics.

Questions:
a. Why are liberals not interested in protecting all people that struggle, for example Vietnamese or Chinese that are struggling?
b. Don't liberals realize when they start defining groups based on race or religion those groups will eventually have elevated status? In other words if you are not of those groups eventually you will be considered an outsider?
c. Do liberals believe in open borders? That if everyone from the world began moving here it would be the best thing for the national economy and citizens?

Actually, it seems you wish to attack fictitious stereotypes, OR that you are parroting those who do! No one is fooled by your dirt kicking or introductory first line!

 

[TheDude]

Are you talking about real liberals or hippy liberals?

Don't insult the fucking hippies man. At least they contributed to civil rights for blacks and kick-ass music. Compare and contrast to liberals since, who produce NOTHING but a turd.

 

[TNHarley]

Are you talking about real liberals or hippy liberals?

Don't insult the fucking hippies man. At least they contributed to civil rights for blacks and kick-ass music. Compare and contrast to liberals since, who produce NOTHING but a turd.

Hell, they might as well started all the shit man.

 

[peter samperos]

I thought a liberal was someone who feels uniquely qualified, due to being an intellectual elite, to redistribute other folk's income in an effort to further enslave the poor.

Good point that many liberals seem to believe in wealth distribution. Books from writers like Thomas Piketty seem to be making the idea popular among liberals. IMHO taxing the rich would not correct the problems of underemployment nor the lack of high paying jobs.

 

[ZZ PUPPS]

What is a liberal?

The assholes that tried to destroy this country.

 

[yiostheoy]

These terms have changed in meaning throughout the history of the past 300 years.

Liberal used to mean someone who did not believe in the absolute divine right of kings.

Liberals were those who believed in more liberty for the people through elected legislators.

John Locke was a liberal. So were the Founding Freemasons of the US Declaration Of Independence and the Constitution.

But then Liberal began to represent those who wanted more and more legislation liberally applied to try to solve all of society's problems, like Nancy Pelosi, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Harry Reid, and Chuck Schumer. We really should call these people "activists" rather than liberals because in many cases like their anti-gun and anti-2nd-Amendment views they are not liberal they are communist.

So the term has gotten sullied by misuse.

Same is true of the term "conservative." It used to mean someone who wanted to conserve the power of the king rather than liberally allow power to the elected legislatures and parliaments.

Now conservative means more tax cuts for the rich and more oil drilling everywhere, less welfare legislation like OASDI, Medicare, Medicaid, ACA, etc. and pro-war and pro-military-buildup like "W" Bush -- a classic "conservative" and a moron.

It is as if a drunken man, upon falling off his horse, immediately remounts and falls off the other side (famous French historical expression).

 

[yiostheoy]

I thought a liberal was someone who feels uniquely qualified, due to being an intellectual elite, to redistribute other folk's income in an effort to further enslave the poor.

Good point that many liberals seem to believe in wealth distribution. Books from writers like Thomas Piketty seem to be making the idea popular among liberals. IMHO taxing the rich would not correct the problems of underemployment nor the lack of high paying jobs.

RE-distribution of wealth is an economic issue, not just a liberal issue.

Wealth is generally a MIS-allocation of resources. How to correct this misallocation is the economic problem which all university and grad school texts and courses address.

University and grad school level economics deals with 3 classic problems:

1 - what to produce

2 - how to produce it

3 - how to distribute it.

You armchair politicians who did not go to college or did not take any econ there or did not pay attention need to grasp the bigger picture.

 

[peter samperos]

Are you talking about real liberals or hippy liberals?

What's the difference in beliefs between the two?

Real liberals value individual liberty, private property limited govt etc
Hippy liberals are not like that

 

[yiostheoy]

Wow !! I am feeling just like Adam Smith here. He tried to explain all this to the King and to the Parliament around 1775 when he published the first classic econ text -- The Wealth Of Nations.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

People should not be asking "what is a liberal" as if it was some sort of conformist identity. They should be asking "what is liberalism?" instead. If they asked the latter question, and then actually read a thing or two by various liberal political philosophers, they would come to understand that most of today's liberals aren't.

 

[Skull Pilot]

 

[peter samperos]

Recently interested in politics and trying to understand what a liberal is?

It seems their primary concerns are:
1. Protecting the following groups... african-americans, women, LGBT, Latinos, Native Americans, Muslims, disabled.
2. Keeping abortion rights for women.
3. Limiting access to guns.
4. Increase taxes on the wealthy.
5. Having open borders.
6. Secular, limit religious influence of politics.

Questions:
a. Why are liberals not interested in protecting all people that struggle, for example Vietnamese or Chinese that are struggling?
b. Don't liberals realize when they start defining groups based on race or religion those groups will eventually have elevated status? In other words if you are not of those groups eventually you will be considered an outsider?
c. Do liberals believe in open borders? That if everyone from the world began moving here it would be the best thing for the national economy and citizens?

Actually, it seems you wish to attack fictitious stereotypes, OR that you are parroting those who do! No one is fooled by your dirt kicking or introductory first line!

Those 7 groups were defined by Johathan Haidt, who is a left leaning professor. What groups from the list are missing?

 

[TheDude]

Are you talking about real liberals or hippy liberals?

Don't insult the fucking hippies man. At least they contributed to civil rights for blacks and kick-ass music. Compare and contrast to liberals since, who produce NOTHING but a turd.

Hell, they might as well started all the shit man.

Hey man, I get it. Seriously, I really dig what you're putting down. But they did produce an improvement or two, and really groovy music. The "hippy" liberal since has produced nothing but made-up causes, fragility, decay and thought police. That's the true description for today's liberal.

 

[peter samperos]

Are you talking about real liberals or hippy liberals?

What's the difference in beliefs between the two?

Real liberals value individual liberty, private property limited govt etc
Hippy liberals are not like that

I have not heard the term "hippy liberal". Both Sanders and Clinton were in support for private property. Is the "hippy liberal" a small faction of the democratic party?

 

[TNHarley]

Are you talking about real liberals or hippy liberals?

What's the difference in beliefs between the two?

Real liberals value individual liberty, private property limited govt etc
Hippy liberals are not like that

I have not heard the term "hippy liberal". Both Sanders and Clinton were in support for private property. Is the "hippy liberal" a small faction of the democratic party?

That's just my humor, lol.
They really aren't in support of private property. For instance, a bakery being forced to deal their private property against their will. Private property goes way beyond home ownership.