What is your definition of a liberal?

Question

It seems that "liberals" are to blame for everything these days...

and the term is almost always used as a prefix to democrat...

So what EXACTLY is a liberal?

And how can a "liberal" be such a strong force in a country where they are described as "fringe outsiders"?

Just as I suspected - not a single person agrees with another...

Maybe it's time to start choosing words that we can clearly define.

Answer 1

1) A liberal to me is someone who wants to see people paid consummate to their work, who wants to see real options given to the poor to work themselves out of it and real help until they can, who wants to ensure that people's freedom of religion and if they so choose, freedom from religion are properly maintained, who wants to get rid of the death penalty, not because we have any great love for those who do evil, but because it has been proven that far too many innocent people have been killed, and then turned out to have been innocent post mortem. A liberal wants to see true education instated, instead of the "create docile, loyal, and easily manipulated" workers joke that we have now. A liberal to me closely pays attention to the sources that vie for our attention and our credibility, and only hand our credibility over to the sources that prove not to be clearly manipulated by monied interests.etc..

2) You have clearly stumbled upon a very subtle bit of Republican party manipulation. As numerous authors have pointed out," Where are these so-called powerful libs acting?" They are not in the media which is very, very conservative and at most centrist, they are not pwerful enough in politics, where are they? Well, they really aren't despite our best efforts. But the thing is, to keep a majority party from becoming complascent and allowing the minority party from stepping in and taking control, you have to convince them constantly that they are under oppression. They they aren't receiving adequate representation in the media, that evil hoardes of athelists and agnostics (of which I am not) are seeking to dismantle their religious freedoms, that if the liberals win an election the terrorists will surely wipe the map with us. They have to be kept absolutely certain that their way of life will crumble if they don't constantly remain vigilant, active, and afraid.

Answer 2

The modern definition of Liberal (as Webster's defines) is:
"a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties".

Most AMericans have no idea what a Liberal is. Neo-Conservatives champion a system of private enterprise... fairly Libertarian in values by definition. Neo-cons believe that by privatizing as much as they can and therefore reducing the role of the government.. lower taxes will result which will spur on more industry, and will actually lift the average standard of living.... also sounds pretty good in practice.

However, what we have seen since Reagan, and now, is a growing disparity between rich and poor. Therefore, Liberals of today champion some state regulation to decrease the financial burden of the poor. For example, Universal Medicare would ensure the poor don't have to pay for health care... government controlled insurance is very cheap for everybody, but dishes out much less in payouts.

Personally I consider myself a Liberal, and it often times makes me laugh when people try to tell me my own political beliefs becuase they have an extremely one track minded right bias.

Answer 3

It's ironic that such a word has become so mis-used, and that the loud minority of neocons who use it, use it with disdain.

To me, a liberal means someone who is open to change, someone who is concerned about the welfare of their fellow humans, someone who wants to help others.

The Statue of Liberty conveys some of the meaning of being liberal - welcoming people to a land of opportunity as opposed to building walls.

Luckily I'm Canadian, where liberal doesn't have such a negative connotation. In fact, it's likely that the next PM will be a member of the Liberal Party, and surprise, surprise, be bilingual too.

It's nice when leaders have the capability to stand outside of their own linguistic culture and to be able to communicate with more people.

Answer 4

A Liberal is someone who is too lazy to come up with real, substantive, original ideas, so just whines like an old bitty at the Republicans.

A Liberal is the ultimate hypocrite, people like Michael Moore who make a great show of telling people how open minded he is, and then hiring practically no blacks, or Barbra Streisand on her global warming crusade, when her lifestyle (private jet, huge mansion, etc.) are exactly what she criticises others for.

A Liberal has absolutely no sense of shame and no common sense. Here is the proof:

a) On the one hand, they say Bush is a moron, but in the same breath they say that he is so brilliant, cunning, resourceful, and a genius at disinformation that he masterminded 9-11, a perfect crime, unparalleled in all history.

b) First they chide Bush for not accepting North Korea's request to have bilateral nuke talks with the U.S. Bush steadfastly refuses, because he is shrewd, and know the game the North Koreans are playing. Then, when the six party talks Bush insisted on keeping succeed, and North Korea agrees to give up nuclear ambitions, they say Bush had nothing to do with it. It's unreal. There are no circumstances under which a Liberal will give Bush credit !

The Liberal ranks include:

1) aging douche-bag hippies
2) welfare mommas
3) dumb, clueless college kids
4) the mentally ill
5) naive "anti-war" protestors
6) Cindy Sheehan (whoops..... see #4)

Liberals always think that huge government programs can solve all our social issues. Take health care: even though they can see the dismal state of "free" health care in other countries (substandard care, rampant corruption, long waits, doctors who just don't care), they keep trying for it.

Liberals have this crazy idea about how society should function. For example, even though most people could buy their own health insurance (the government is now giving tax credits for doing so; hence, the "I don't have money" argument is a total crock), Liberals want "free" health care. This means that the quality of health care will plummet, but Liberals don't care. They will just keep making bigger bureaucracies to fix the problem.

How about their nutty idea about "free" college educations for anyone who wants them? I roomed with a guy for one semester who should never have been in college. In that semester, he took all easy classes, in which he received four F's and one D. The "D" was for a class called (no, I'm not joking) "Women's bodies") If anyone could go to college, the already lowered standards would reach the point of ridiculous. Colleges would end up being like remedial high schools.

So you see, Liberals are not too smart, they don't think issues through, they are too lazy to come up with real solutions, and they are incredibly hypocritical.

Answer 5

Webster dictionary says liberal means GENEROUS, BOUNTIFUL; not literal; not narrow in opinion or judgment;: TOLERANT; also not orthodox; not conservative; a person who holds liberal views

Long ago being a liberal was a good thing. They wanted equal rights for all, blacks and whites, males and females, housewives and wives working outside the house.... but nowadays they have taken their 'strengthens' too far. They have taken the American freedoms and fight for freedom of immorals to become morals. ACLU fights for people's rights. They are one-sided though. They will jump at the opportunity to sue a court house to take down a statue of the Ten Commandments but if I wanted that same statue put up infront of another courthouse, they would completely ignore me. The ACLU are liberals and are bias. One-sided. They stand for immoral corruption as long as it brings them attention, plublicity and money. They rarely help people in moral situations. The term 'liberal' has become corrupt because the people themselves have become corrupt and want full freedom to do as they please, not matter who it hurts and no matter what the cost.

Answer 6

The best way for me to answer this rather complex question, is to name the others who have already given outstanding answers, and really do understand what a liberal really is!

Joelgmt, Mathew H., Peacedevi (the first part of her answer),
Pat, and Coragryph!
*sm*

Answer 7

Liberals have great ideas and some wonder views of how things should be done in the world.
They all in favor of telling others about it.
They want all the fan fare that goes with being "nice".
Yet when it gets dirty or tough they don't.
Conservative make it work they are ones who give more of their time and moeny in helping the poor.
Conservative go to war so people can have the freedom we enjoy. Added note there are liberal who understand that but they are in the minority.

The ironic thing is you need both to make the world go around.
Different ideas help shutting off one side other the other leads to trouble.

Yes I am a conservative and I am complain about liberals but I won't in million years want them to go away.

It is called blance.

Answer 8

A person who does not believe in stoping terrorist countries but supports the death penalty

A person who wants tolerance for other peoples religion, but will not let the word god be in the 150 year old pledge of allligence

A person who uses abortions as a form of birth control

A person who believes that gay marrige is okay

basically liberals are the downfall of America

Answer 9

funny that one say that libs are free thinkers.......I have not found one yet that thinks or even does any research to back what they are saying. Liberals are followers.....they are so weak minded that they will believe anything that that the democrats tell them, even if it is a lie.....which we all know is most of the time. I sure would not want to be one.....I am able to make up my own mind, I research to find the facts. I am not stupid enough to believe ever thing my party tells me.....I choose who I believe is the best candidate for our country, and who has the balls to protect us from terrorist and from insurgents of illegal aliens living off our backs.....and protecting the American only right to vote....and not allow illegals the right to obtain a drivers license and voting privileges in a country that they are not a legal resident.

Answer 10

Liberal and conservative are political philosophies.
Democrats and Republicans are political parties.

Liberals believe in personal freedoms, lack of government regulation over individuals, equal opportunity, and protection of the environment. Most favor government regulation of business to those ends. A liberal someone who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties, and who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire, resulting in self-regulating markets rather than government regulation of business.

Conservatives believe in traditional values, morality, and conformity. They oppose government regulation of business, but favor government regulation of personal conduct and relationships. Conservative are resistant to change, and opposed to liberal reforms. Conservatives value stability over flexibility, and conformity over uncertainty.

Note that on this forum, the term "liberals" is often used to refer to anyone the speaker (usually a conservative and/or republican) doesn't like. Hence, it's often mis-used as an insulting epitaph, completely ignoring its actual meaning.