POLL: Liberal or Conservative?

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Just out of curiosity, how many people on SP are liberal? Conservative? Or, if you feel you don't really fit either, neither?

Personally, I am an extreme liberal.

[ November 29, 2005, 05:20: Message edited by: Saber ]

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 32 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Liberal or Conservative? (32 votes.)

Liberal or Conservative? (Choose 1)
* Extreme Liberal - 13% (4)
* Moderate Liberal - 41% (13)
* Neither Liberal nor Conservative - 28% (9)
* Moderate Conservative - 16% (5)
* Extreme Conservative - 3% (1)

 

Fairly difficult for me to answer, because you don't have a category for "I have no idea what these political terms mean"

Just what does "liberal" and "conservative" mean in a political sense?

 

I'd say I was just "not conservative", but moderate liberal will do nicely.

@HB:
Good glaven, man; don't you have a dictionary?

 

Well, I'm not exactly positive on how to explain it (I am awful at explaining things), so I'll just use clear, dictionary definitions.

Liberal: "Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded"
( http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=liberal )

Conservative: "Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change" ( http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=conservative )

In America (although, you don't live in America), Leftists and Democrats are generally more liberal, and Rightists (?) and Republicans are generally more conservative.

You could also look up the terms in wikipedia, or somesuch encyclopedia, if you wish.

 

I am a moderate liberal. I tend to be more liberal on social issues and less so on economic issues though.

 

I never even thought about economic issues... Well, I am an extreme liberal on most everything else. Considering I'm not actually sure on our economic situation, I'd better do some research on it.

 

I voted Neither, because I fit both, depending on the topic.

On moral issues, I'm strongly conservative. Christianity has been around for 2000 years, and for the most part, have not changed their morals much, and the doctrine leads me to believe that this won't happen any time soon.

On economic issues, I tend to be more Liberal. I believe in public education, public healthcare, and helping those who can't get Jobs because business won't provide enough, helping those who cannot work, helping out the helpless victim of circumstances...

 

Libertarian all the way over here. Keep the government out of the lives and pockets of us all.

 

I don't consider myself a conservative, since I am not really for a larger government, more government spending and less civil and individual rights. Nor do I support the large government welfare state run by the conservatives in the current administration and congress. And I believe that the government belongs to the people, not corporate lobbyists.

I am also opposed to fighting the frivolous wars in far away places, which support the corporate welfare state and that has helped to create high deficits, which the American taxpayer will have to payback, probably much sooner than later. The American taxpyer will loose his social security and healthcare to support all of the above programs - and some others:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8894520/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8347538/site/newsweek/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6862777/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9629463/site/newsweek/

And this is from George Will:

Doubled since 2000? I wonder why?

 

I said neither Liberal or Conservative. My ideals tend to be a perfect blend of both systems. Economically I would like to see more countries adopt a system similar to what Swedens was/is (not sure anymore). High taxes, but subsidized everything and guarenteed employment. It seems like the system that works the best for a country, with a few minor changes that I won't get into.

Socially/moral issues, I'm totally liberal. Tolerance, acceptance, change.

 

Socially liberal (mostly), fiscally moderate (mostly).

 

Social liberal and fiscally conservative. When I say this I need to put things on the correct perspective here. I live in a nordic welfare state so it's quite large step to the left on the fiscal scale and I fully support cuts being made to our welfare system which we won't afford anyway in the coming years. From an American point of view even my fiscal opinions would probably be considered either moderate or liberal.

 

Amd it's 2 all for everything except extreme conservatism...

Extreme liberal here, both on moral and economic.

 

Voted neither, as the poll is flawed and I'm more of extremely left(does NOT equal Liberal, as Liberal is rightist, but with a different moral leaning) in both economical and social issues. Syndicalist, if you may.

 

Economically neither. I believe that people are more important, meaningful and significant than the system itself, as well as that what's good for one society doesn't have to be good for another.

I'm not a fan of overregulated economics. But a free market stops being free on its own -- leave the market free and monopolies will form, creating a monoculture, much like in communism. But if you do regulate, it makes no sense to maintain the happy free market fiction. I believe that the market should be as free as possible, but deceiving or unfairly exploited customers and business partners in any way should be penalised harshly, including forcing people out of management (i.e. let them keep their shares and associated profit but not company governance if they cheat). If ethics are enforced (while it would be much better if they were ingrained and didn't need to be enforced), a liberal market isn't bad.

As for public or private healthcare, education etc etc, I believe it depends on the country's needs or even the government's vision and there's no universal solution that works everywhere. My only reservation is that we should either have a public healthcare (education) or pay a health insurance (education) tax, not both. Things are bad for people who prefer private healthcare or education in a predominantly public system because they won't get a tax return... so either a tax return for them or indeed it should all be private, while taxes lower, and the government should make sure that everyone has access and can afford the service. I also believe that the actual cost vs charged fee ratio should be controlled by the country in education, healthcare, fuel prices and a couple of other things. Especially if big corporations are concerned. Letting the market free won't make it work anymore than manual driving, so a limited degree of freedom for predominantly private businesses would perhaps be a good and stable balanced solution.

As for property, I don't believe that "from each according to his ability and to each according to his need" is something that works in a family rather than a country. I don't think it should be enforceable. People should be allowed to spend their money or invest it as they choose and shouldn't be penalised with taxes if they choose to invest. At the same time, while I do believe that ownership of fruits of one's labour is a matter of natural law, I equally firmly believe that property is much influenced by the economic system of a country in our modern circumstances. Therefore, it's the system that decides more than just work or inheritance or whatever. I don't believe that people should be allowed to manipulate virtual cash and affecting the whole country's or world's economics that way. I believe that profit is a legitimate motive but there is no sanctity of profit ("thou shalt not stand in the way of profit" commandment) comparable to the sanctity of the right to the fruits of one's labour. In short: ethics. Corporations, businesses, large property masses, all operate within a certain system and it's the system which protects them, allows them to survive and grow. They shouldn't be allowed to be parasites in the name of their freedom. Some reasonable balance should be found, as both communism and capitalism are flawed. It's not good to cripple businesses but it's not good to give them a free reign. One example of the former are overblown tax systems that require loads of paperwork; of the latter copyrights ("intellectual property" etc) in their current shape which is a big joke.

Morally, I'm conservative when it comes to what is *proper*. I may be more liberal when it comes to what is allowed or shouldn't be punished. For example, I'm not in favour of making homosexual intercourse a crime but you will never get me to say that it's moral and as good as heterosexual. I'm not in favour of premarital marriage being a crime (although I'm not sure if cheating on a spouse being a crime or tort isn't a bad idea), but you won't get me to say it's a matter of choice where all choices are good. I don't believe that all cases of abortion or euthanasia are equal to plain murder but you will never get me to say it's a legitimate choice in any case. In short, I'm pretty lenient with punishment but very stingy with support.

So, all in all, I would say economically nononsensarian (what makes the best sense, a healthy calculation of risk and gain, and morally nonconveniencial -- no concessions towards convenience or political trends, no gratuitous affirmation of everything that people enjoy doing).

Between the liberal and the conservative, I often end up on the conservative side, but I believe liberty is more of a legitimate, productive motive than conserving. I don't believe in keeping things as they are for its own sake, even if I do believe in order and making things run smoothly, stably and without surprises. I don't believe in change for its own sake, either, but liberalism doesn't technically require a drive to change things for the new -- that's more like leftism.

By the way, there was a whole big political movement in the UK called conservative-liberal (or the other way round). The two don't preclude one another in the strict sense.

[ November 29, 2005, 14:21: Message edited by: chevalier ]

 

Something between moderate and extreme liberal here.

 

Well there's one thing at least that I do know about. Your economic situation = colossal debt to foreign countries.

As for the poll, I think it's far too difficult to generalise like that. There are some areas where I like there to be change and other areas where I like the traditional values. I don't see how people can categorise themselves as being one or the other.

 

Conservative on pretty much all issues. I even find some Conservatives to be raging liberals.

...but I do have enough social conscience to realize that liberals need to be cared for to prevent them from hurting themselves and others.

 

@ Hacken -- too funny!

My beliefs fall primarily into the conservative side of things. I want lower taxes and for people to take responsibility for their actions instead of always looking to the government to bail them out or blaming society for their own stupidity. I also believe that the beliefs and practices of our forefathers have value and were created over time, so I'm against major social restructuring in the name of "Progress."

However, I also believe in the inherent dignity of the individual, and that the government should take a hand to aid people for those things that are not their fault. That is why I advocate a state medical system that pays for treatments for diseases that could strike anyone. My conservative side rears it's head when some loser wants the state to pay for his sex change operation, though.