What is liberalism?
 

A little while back, I asked conservatives to explain the ideas behind conservatism. They responded quickly and with a lot of background.

Now, I'd like conservatives to do me another favor. What is liberalism? Where did it come from?

Again, I'm not looking for policy proposals (like free healthcare or anti-death penalty) but the basic underlining ideological foundations of modern liberalism.

Re: What is liberalism?
 

Modern conservatism: oppress people overseas

Modern liberalism: oppress people domestically

Most people want to do both. They're "libocons."

Re: What is liberalism?
 

Please explain how liberalism oppresses people in the US?

Liberals want more freedom, not less. Look at the "war on drugs" or the DoD program of spying on peaceful americans for example: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10454316/

Re: What is liberalism?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Modern conservatism: oppress people overseas

Modern liberalism: oppress people domestically

Most people want to do both.

[/ QUOTE ]

I will let liberals speak for themselves, but most conservatives do not want to oppress anyone. They do want to defend themselves against crime and foreign terror.

Its too bad that pvn considers self-defense to be oppression, he seems to have gotten led astray a bit.

Re: What is liberalism?
 

This is a Bill Hicks quote that sums up how most liberals feel. If you are a Christian Conservative, close your eyes and pray:
"My final point about alchohol, about drugs, about Pornography...What business is it of your's what I do, read, buy, see or take into my body as long as I don't harm another human being whilst on this planet? And for those of you having a little moral dilemna on how to answer this, I'll answer for you. NONE OF YOUR [censored] BUSINESS Take that to the bank, cash it and take it on a vacation outta my [censored] life. "

Re: What is liberalism?
 

I assume pvn is a libetarian?

Re: What is liberalism?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I assume pvn is a libetarian?

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe he is a libertarian with a persecution complex. He seems to think everybody is out there oppressing everybody. I guess he sees himself as the innocent victim being oppressed by all them non-libertarians out there. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: What is liberalism?
 

Part of modern liberalisms current weakness is that it has no idealogical base. It is often seen as a grab bag of individual policy proposals that aren't necessarily threaded togethor. This is why many of the individual policy proposals often contradict eachother, change radically over time, or are fundamentally faulty.

One could say that the fundamental tenant of liberalism is that an enlightened committee of experts can make better policy decisions then the public and that the government should have sweeping powers so that those decisions can be carried out.

What these enlightened individuals believe often changes from issue to issue, and as such it appears like a grab bag of specific policy initiatives.

As someone else said, conservatives tend to start with universal principles and then apply them to specific policy situations, while liberals tend to think of solutions to specific policy challenges without linking those solutions togethor in a fundamental way or understanding how they effect one another. In other words, conservatives try to answer all the questions at once and liberals try to do them all seperately.

As such people think conservatives lack finese and deep analysis while people think liberals are too complicated and lose sight of basic principles (which inevitably makes them contradict themselves).

Re: What is liberalism?
 

On social issues they are often against free speech (remember, most liberals aren't the ACLU, but rather come down on anyone that says anything "offensive").

On economic issues the sky is the limit.

Then again, I don't know why we divide economics and social, as they are integrated pretty closely in my life.

Re: What is liberalism?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Modern conservatism: oppress people overseas

Modern liberalism: oppress people domestically

Most people want to do both.

[/ QUOTE ]

I will let liberals speak for themselves, but most conservatives do not want to oppress anyone. They do want to defend themselves against crime and foreign terror.

Its too bad that pvn considers self-defense to be oppression, he seems to have gotten led astray a bit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Going out and killing 30k Iraqis (and 2k Americans) sure has a lot to do with "defense." That doesn't matter though, because the life of one American is worth that of many foreigners. After all, they were born outside of the jurisdiction of the US government. Additionally, the funds used in these endeavors are obtained by means of force, thus oppressing people domestically.

Oh, conservatives also oppress people domestically by denying them of several personal freedoms (although 'liberals' so this too).