Are you Liberal, Moderate or Conservative? And why?

[Feuer Frei!]

Not limited to Politics or Religion,
share your thoughts, Kaleuns!

[gimpy117]

I am a liberal.

I support they liberal policies of social responsibility. I feel that we, via government should use every available option to help citizens. I don't see using government programs such as universal healthcare, or raising wages as "socialistic" or policies hurting business; I seem them as ways of bolstering the common man in my country.

I feel the conservative ideals are not ideal at all, rather a collection of selfish policies that serve to give the wealthy more at the expense of the common man, or push personal beliefs onto others, Such as in the case of the gay marriage bans or trickle down economics.

[Sailor Steve]

None of the above. I side with the Conservatives on some issues, the Liberals on others, though often for the same reasons, which gets me into trouble with both. I'm hardly Moderate, but I'm still somewhere in between.

I don't trust anybody with any authority. I see the government as a useful tool and a necessary evil, which should be used in...Moderation.

I guess I'm a knee-jerk independent.

@Gimpy: We could have an interesting debate over your last paragraph, but I'm sure this is not the thread for arguments, and I'm hoping that while those who follow us will feel free to say how they really feel, we won't go down that road.

[edit] After rereading the OP, I thought I'd state my views on religion as well. In politics and religion I have a hard time believing anything that isn't proven, and nothing in either has been proven to my satisfaction. I don't know the answers, and I maintain a severe distrust of anyone who claims he does. People who are certain they are right leave no room for the possibility that they might be wrong, and when their most cherished beliefs are called into question they usually turn ugly. Those who "know" they are right (on any subject) also have left no room to learn anything new.

So I watch, and listen, and try to learn. And mostly fail.

[nikimcbee]

@ Steve
I'd say that's what I beleive regarding religion. I;ll just add, that's the beauty of this country, you can (almost) believe what you want to believe. The pursecution seems to be selective at times.

I'll just add, my views on religions are changing anyways.

[Feuer Frei!]

I better answer my own thread, after all, fair's fair.

It's been my constant belief that all individuals have both the right and responsibility to live under a state of maximal liberty. Only under such conditions is the best of ourselves allowed to express itself.
Conservatives, liberals and moderates all share one thing in common: the idea that they know what's best for the rest of us in some degree or another.
I tend to be rather moderate on most issues. Maybe it's a sign of aging. We all tend to move toward moderation and away from extremism with time and maturity.

It depends on the issue, I can go from side to side. There are a lot of contradictions in the stance liberals conservatives and libertarians have on certain issues.

[TLAM Strike]

I guess I'm what most would consider "far left". I would say I'm a quasi-anarcho-communist. I believe in a socialistic economic system but a federalized representative government.

[Castout]

I hate labeling I'm a human being!

[antikristuseke]

I like beer. Also I am an agnostic atheist. In politics it really depends on the issue which "side" i side with.

[Vendor]

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

I like beer. Also I am an agnostic atheist. In politics it really depends on the issue which "side" i side with.

We know you like beer, which is common, but right now the bar is closed, according to current regulations,

[Betonov]

Liberal

Support free trade, free market, free speech, free press, free internet etc.
Universal healthcare or private subsidized, as long as it's not the US system.
Support gay marriages, die hard supporter of secularization (to a point that someone might call me a communist).
Hate communism and despise fascism

But there are some points I go conservative:
Immigration should be closed and selective, no rifraf, educated only and with background checks. Then I also agree that some types of piece are worse than war.

Why ??? I'm to young to be a conservative, I'm fed up with fat incompetent carrier politicians and I despise the church.

One more curious thing, I support an old roman republic custom of dictatorships. When the going got tough they elected someone (competent) to single handedly run the country and put things in order. no BS

[Skybird]

I have been called in this forum an extreme conservative, a reasonable consesrvative, a moderate, a liberal, a lefty, a socialist, a racist, a Nazi, a mad man, and a phobic. Sometimes very opposing terms were used on me by one and the same person, with just some short time between both statements.

For my own part, I can say only this: I am what I am, and labels and categories like these do not hold any fascination for me, nor do I think it makes sense to voluntarily agree to get limited in one's thinking by the descriptions of any of these categories. Not to mention that different people do not always mean the same things when using the same label. If anything, then I try to be a realist.

[GoldenRivet]

I consider myself to be a conservative libertarian on paper. For the most part i feel like government should stay out of the private affairs of the citizens. I think the government should be used as a means to create and enforce laws, wage war, protect the nation from foreign aggression and build infrastructure... i completely disagree that it is the governments job to provide the means for advancement for each individual citizen.

Whether i stand liberal, or conservative on an issue, depends entirely upon the issue being discussed.

for example - religion, abortion and guns - three major issues:

On Religion: I think someone should have the freedom to practice religion as they wish. I also think that there should be no "push" to convert others or force the religion onto others. While i believe that there is a supreme being responsible for creation... I honestly go to church only a couple of times per year, and i feel that someone can be "spiritual" without being a strictly devoted church member.

On abortion: I'm mixed... I support abortion - *IF* 1) medical opinion dictates that the infant will die prior to birth or shortly after birth 2) the infant would be still born 3) the infant will be plagued with ailments which would significantly reduce quality of life (bed ridden, brain dead etc). 4) the life of the mother is in any way threatened by continuing the pregnancy. 5) pregnancy as the result of rape or pregnancy of a minor as a result of rape or molestation etc. I think the final "authority" as to whether or not the procedure should be carried out should be the woman. I do not support abortion as a means for birth control. If someone is willing to engage in sexual intercourse, they surely realize that pregnancy is one of the risks of doing so. They should not be allowed to get an abortion simply because the life of the child would prove really inconvenient for their new years party plans. No questions asked adoption should be the alternative in such cases.

On guns: i think anyone should be able to purchase and own a hand gun or rifle. I also strongly support the concealed hand gun initiative. Once you have a history of certain violent crimes your right to gun ownership is revoked. High powered rifles, military grade rifles, or assault rifles are fair game providing you can pass an FBI background check. I am strongly opposed to virtually all other forms of gun control (ban ammo, tax firearms at a rate that makes it unrealistic to buy one, outlaw them completely etc).

[the_tyrant]

I'm generally pro-government
Don't care who's in power, but i generally support the incumbent
I never really supported the political activists (like the guys at tiananmen)

and yes, I hate being labeled, and being represented

[Armistead]

I use to be a fundy Baptist, fairly racist, ect. Maybe growing up in the south in a white country church that spewed hate and hellfire through my youth had effect, reminds me of the GOP now. Course that made me a strong GOP supporter. I'm not sure when a light bulb went off, probably a teacher I had in bible college, but I started using an open mind and mass study. I'm not a brain, barely got through high school, but I became a student of all history, politics and religion and lost faith in all three.


Like Steve, I trust hardly anyone in a position of power in government. I'm liberal on some issues, conservative on others.

I hate the GOP now. They are a group of elitist hiding under the disguise of religion and capitalism. They claim self-responsibility, unregulated capitalism, basically each man for himself can succeed or not, then all their policies support a mass corporate state of wealth.

They claim to be the party of individual responsibility, but then pass laws that give corporations an unfair right to get rich off the middle class. The GOP is the party of bail outs, but only the rich, with poor regulation, unfair tax code, unfair trade. The GOP doesn't believe in responsibility when it comes to corporations, they've gave them every advantage passing laws to make a few filthy rich off the backs of the rest of us.

We only need look back to how it was from the 1950's to about the 80's. Most that wanted had a decent wage, full benefits and a pension. To a fair degree corporate America served America. Then about 60% of us held all wealth, now about 20% hold all wealth, just 1% owns 40% of all wealth in America. That didn't happen because Americans were lazy, that happened due to government cutting back room deals and selling their vote. This proves trickle down doesn't work. Leave it to the GOP and we'll be a two class society in 20 years or less.

Then we have people following the Glen Becks....just a clown, using the same scare tactics radical preachers used. Glen, like most politicians will tell you a hundred truths to get you to believe one big lie and this is how most americans are scammed.

I would probably vote for Ralph Nader.

[Sailor Steve]

@ Armistead: You never cease to surprise me. I feel I owe you an apology for some of the things I've thought when we've discussed "certain issues".

I see some people have expanded on specific issues, so I'll do the same.

Big Corporations: I actually agree with the liberals in the belief that it's wrong for some to earn huge amounts of money while paying employees a pittance. On the other hand I also feel that what I find right or wrong isn't necessarily the truth. My problem is with the concept of using the government to make it better, simply because I don't think that government is capable of making anything better, only of shifting the badness around. Government needs to punish those who actually do something illegal, but controlling the way things work just makes for bigger and more powerful government, without actually fixing anything. So no, I don't have a sure answer, but I still don't trust people who think they do.

Abortion: While within myself I feel that abortion is just plain wrong, I also acknowledge that my feelings and opinions are just that. The only person whose opinion matters is that of the expectant mother, and if she chooses to take that route then all the options, including competent medical help, must be legally available to her. As for late-term abortions, I feel that if the child has reached a stage where it can live outside the mother, it should be allowed to.