Can one be very liberal yet not a socialist or a communist?

Answer 1

Several people I know who are “very liberal” are successful business owners. I don’t think the concepts of classic socialism or communism would fit into their ideas of how the economy should operate, especially since it would disadvantage them greatly.

Answer 2

Being liberal and being socialist/communist do not necessarily go hand-in-hand.

Being liberal can be interperated as wanting or facilitating change, whlie being conservative means less change or keeping things the way they are.

Socialism/Communism are (at there core) economic ideaologies dealing with how the wealth of the group should be managed. The fact that they are coupled with government movements are really an after-thought. You can have a socialist democracy, or a communist republic (though it has been fairly well established that communism does not work in practice without the use of force).

We are, in fact, not even a democracy. We are a republic. We aren't a purely capitalistic republic though as we do have market regulations and a handful of socialistis programs.

~X~

Answer 3

Are you saying the founding fathers were Socialists or Communists?

LIBERALS
Liberals share a belief in individual rights, free enterprise, representative democracy, and the rule of law. In this sense, almost all Americans accept liberal ideas. So much so that it is easy to forget how revolutionary these ideas were when the American Constitution was written. Thomas Jefferson said, “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with more.” All of our founding fathers considered liberalism a foundation of “the great experiment”. America since Reagan, liberalism has been colored to appear weak and elitest and our military force is used to intervene in other nations affairs.
Think liberal, think BIG

Answer 4

Of course, a liberal is defined as one who in favor of progressive reform. That can be interpreted in a variety of different ways and does not necessarily mean communist or socialist values.

Answer 5

Libertarians are socially liberal but certainly not socialist or communist in fact they are very pro- free market capitalism.

Answer 6

By pure definition one can be Liberal and not Socialists. You cannot propose more government solutions to our problems and not be of a socialist mindset (Health Care anyone?)

Answer 7

Yes. Of course.

All being liberal means is you use reason and logic for the good of all to progress and form a more perfect union. Any spinners and liars on the right who want to frame liberals otherwise are wrong and don't want to discuss issues straight up.

Answer 8

Of course. The text-book liberal promotes government that is a delicate balance of capitalism and socialism. It's called democracy. Communism isn't even in a liberals' vocabulary.

Answer 9

Yes liberals support the democrats. Socialists like myself think that they are controlled by corporations just like the Republicans.

Answer 10

depends who you ask....right wing, knee jerk reaction, hateful cons will say no.

I'm very liberal and not a socialist or a communist. So yes.