Is this exactly what you thought about liberalism?

Question

Here's what Dictionary.com says "liberal" means:
–adjective
1. favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
2. (often initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform.
3. of, pertaining to, based on, or advocating liberalism.
4. favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
5. favoring or permitting freedom of action, esp. with respect to matters of personal belief or expression: a liberal policy toward dissident artists and writers.
6. of or pertaining to representational forms of government rather than aristocracies and monarchies.
7. free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.
8. open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.

Answer 1

Liberal philosophies and advocates are as necessary to the proper functioning of a country as conservative philosophies and advocates are.

Both exist to form a balance, like Yang-Yin. Without liberals, the culture becomes stagnant, closed, unchanging and intolerant of anything new or different. Without conservatives, the culture becomes unfocused, unstable, without any common ground.

It's sad that concepts such as balance and tolerance are so faded from American values that anyone with a different idea is considered the enemy. And yes, that applies to both sides, even to some of the so-called tolerant liberals.

Answer 2

yeah, sure.
the only problem is, i think, that you in america don' know what liberalism is and you call so some forms of socialism or social-democracy. in europe liberalism is understood (as it was in the origin and shoul always be) as a right-of-centre (far from centre) political movement, fighting for private property, religious tolerance, not against the property and religion, as it is with the "liberals" in the us (i mean the democrats). in the german parliament the liberal party has seats on the extreme right side of the chamber, conservatives are sitting to the left of them, then the greens and then the social democrats. situation is similar in lithuania. liberals and conservatives are the closest political partners, both trying to preserve traditional values, such as religiosity, patriotism and so on. and liberals are harder fighters for the low taxation and free market than conservatives. so is the sistuation here and all over the europe

Answer 3

Liberalism comes from the age of the Enlightenment and is often credited to John Locke, if not for coming up it, a minimum of for popularizing. Democracy, on the different hand, has been traced to the classic Greeks. Classical liberalism became extraordinarily plenty a mixture of modern-day-day Democrat and Republican techniques. the place we went incorrect to not basically make liberalism basically left-wing yet in addition associate Democracy with the only left-wing i will in no way understand. with the help of how, John Locke is barely remembered from that element through fact he gave peace of recommendations. He believed he might desire to rule a central authority. the frequently disregarded, yet actual, opponent of his became Thomas Hobbes. He mentioned human beings became unable to governing themselves through selfishness and that we would convey approximately chaos, in spite of a central authority. We owe our thought to John Locke, yet our practice to Thomas Hobbes. long stay Thomas Hobbes.

Answer 4

i think you're going to have to give this one to "lucky2balive"

i agree with "coryagrygh" in ideology but the practice we see today has lost the real content of focus the libs today are so scattered across the spectrum that they just can't do anything collectively so the balance will be lost in internal arguments until they form a more cohesive structure from within

Answer 5

Yes, I believe people should pretty much be able to do what they want as long as it does not compromise some one else's right to do the same. Therefor I cannot in good conscience be of any political party.

Answer 6

This is what you thought.

You have to believe the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of funding.

You have to believe natural born American Citizens have no work ethic and therefore we need illegal immigration.

IF there is a church that is valid, it has been pre-approved by the government.

You have to be against capital punishment but for abortion on demand ... in short, you support protecting the guilty and killing the innocent.

You have to believe that the same public school idiot who can't teach 4th graders how to read is qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

You have to believe that trial lawyers are selfless heroes and doctors are overpaid.

You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding

Americans are more of a threat than nuclear weapons in the hands of the Red Chinese.

You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical, documented changes in the brilliance of the Sun, and more affected by yuppies driving SUVs.

You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being gay is natural.

You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature but pasty, fey activists who've never been outside Seattle do.

You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

You have to believe there was no art before federal funding.

You have to believe the military, not corrupt politicians, start wars.

You have to believe the free market that gives us 500+ channels
can't deliver the quality that PBS does.

You have to believe the NRA is bad, because they stand up for certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good, because they stand up for certain parts of the Constitution.

You have to believe that taxes are too low but ATM fees are too high.

You have to believe you can support the troops while calling them killers and mocking them.

You have to believe that Harriet Tubman, Cesar Chavez and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, General Robert E. Lee or Thomas Edison.

You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides aren't.

You have to believe second-hand smoke is more dangerous than HIV.

You have to believe Hillary Clinton is really a lady and Rosie O'Donnell is not really a man who is jealous of Tom Selleck.
You have to believe conservatives are racists but that black people couldn't make it without your help.

You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.

Answer 7

That may be the definition of a liberal, but it's not the reality of Liberals today. They love the word "tolerant", but they are only to tolerant to those who agree with them. They have lost their collective minds somewhere along the way.

To "lucky2balive": Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

Yes. I'm proud to be a liberal.

Answer 9

Yup.

Answer 10

Yes!!!