WelfareQueen
Diamond Member
I am asking this question very sincerely. Liberals...what does it mean to you personally to be liberal? How do you define your liberal philosophy in personal terms?
I ask this question for several reasons.
1. Many liberals express frustration on this message board that they are misunderstood. When they are criticized, the general response often seems to be "you do not know where I am coming from. You really don't understand liberalism."
2. I have found most Conservatives and Libertarians are very willing to discuss their personal political philosophy. Maybe this is a generalization, but liberals seem very reluctant to get specific about what liberalism is...and what it means to them personally.
3. Maybe if you were more willing to discuss what liberalism means to you personally, there would be greater understanding.
I will speak for myself. I am probably socially left leaning. I support gay rights and gay marriage (neither are any of my business) , I don't like abortion but would not refuse women the right to seek one (again, not directly my business). I am generally very tolerant of different points of view and say live and let live as long as you are not hurting anyone else. So socially I'm probably libertarian/Democrat.
Fiscal issues...Constitutional Rights, Gun Ownership, personal responsibility for your own life, I'm pretty Conservative.
See, that was easy. So you folks who see yourself as liberal...how do you define your beliefs? And please no links to 20 page Das Kapital position papers. This is what you believe.
I ask this question for several reasons.
1. Many liberals express frustration on this message board that they are misunderstood. When they are criticized, the general response often seems to be "you do not know where I am coming from. You really don't understand liberalism."
2. I have found most Conservatives and Libertarians are very willing to discuss their personal political philosophy. Maybe this is a generalization, but liberals seem very reluctant to get specific about what liberalism is...and what it means to them personally.
3. Maybe if you were more willing to discuss what liberalism means to you personally, there would be greater understanding.
I will speak for myself. I am probably socially left leaning. I support gay rights and gay marriage (neither are any of my business) , I don't like abortion but would not refuse women the right to seek one (again, not directly my business). I am generally very tolerant of different points of view and say live and let live as long as you are not hurting anyone else. So socially I'm probably libertarian/Democrat.
Fiscal issues...Constitutional Rights, Gun Ownership, personal responsibility for your own life, I'm pretty Conservative.
See, that was easy. So you folks who see yourself as liberal...how do you define your beliefs? And please no links to 20 page Das Kapital position papers. This is what you believe.
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