College of Political Knowledge
Professor’s Classroom
Subject: Political Theory/Liberalism
Paper #28
To answer my own question……HELL NO!
First of all, I have covered this subject on previous papers, but apparently few paid attention…..well actually few read, to my chagrin….one more time from the top…… calling someone a LIBERAL as an insult is moronic and ignorant…just as making the word conservative as some sort of Cro-Magnon affliction…..sad to say insults seem to be the rule of the day in American politics….and that makes me sick as a political philosopher. How does anything get done like that? (that is rhetoric…for NOTHING of substance gets done in the US).
For instance, you conservs that have a problem with Liberals and use it as an insult……do you believe in a de-regulated economy? How about the liberalization of trade and industry? Or the privatization of public institutions? Wait, there is more…..do you think that tax cuts will help? How about cuts in those darn pesky social services and welfare programs? Or the downsizing of the government? I bet if you are a true American conserv then you do believe in these things.
Well guess what? All the items I listed above are part of an ideology known as……wait for it!…….NEO-LIBERALISM!
That is right sports fans…..for all your bitching about “Liberals” and the liberal is you…..kinda ironic huh?
My point basically is that if you are not aware of what political theories have to say, then you are nothing more than some empty vessel with NO rudder and NO direction…..and you will fall for anything as long as it sounds good.
The American people are falling for the emotional BS that seems to infiltrate into every recent election…instead of looking at reality they look for lame ass conspiracies that are NOT there….sad to say conservs are NOT the only ones falling for this….Dems and liberals are just as guilty.
To the rest of the world Repubs are liberals…according to the tenets of political philosophy…..American consers are liberal…..so think about that before you try to use the word liberal as some sort of insult…….
I forgot who actually said this, but……”Stupidity is the direct cultivation of ignorance” and sad to say that Americans are cultivating the crap out of ignorance!
Good post. The truth is that, like so many others the true meaning of word “liberal” can not only be highly subjective, but can very different things in different circumstances…
Try: What the Democrats need to add is a liberal dose of conservatism – 😆
Geez…this post is popular…way cool….the Blue Dog Dems are trying to do just that….only, IMO, they are going about it the wrong way…
This just goes to show how words and their usage are very important. Didn’t George Orwell touch upon that very thing many years ago?
I suppose this just means that when we use a word that can have multiple meanings, we should clarify what we believe it to mean.
Many conservatives are simply trying to preserve traditional Western values (typically Christian in nature). But since those traditional Western values include individual liberty, personal responsibility, free market economics, a smallery out-of-the-way government, and voluntary charity, then it is easy to understand why Europeans might call American conservatives “liberals.”
But in America, liberal is synonymous with progressive which is synonymous with Big Government which is synonymous with socialism (and maybe even fascism.)
Regardless, the label “liberal” has been hijacked to mean exactly the opposite of what it traditionally meant, just as the label “progressive” no longer means for progress but rather means for whatever the elitists views is progress: forced economic equality, forced gender parity, the taxation of exhalation, etc. 🙂
It is also rather disingenuous to believe that people who don’t like liberal policies are akin to anarchists. In reality, they just don’t like liberal policies that typically involve raising taxes to fund increased government spending which serve to push out private wealthy and forcibly redistribute wealth from a productive sector of the population to a much less productive one.
Natassia, my point is that if you use a political ideology as some sort of insult then one should know what one is speaking of…….I have a real problem with insulting people’s beliefs, though I do find some of them a bit moronic. Elitist is another word that I find interesting considering ALL of the Founders were elitist or aristocratic, if you will.
I could go on and on….but if you are interested please check out my archives and I think you will see that I have manyt opinions on many subjects and I would like your input….only if you have the time.
“Elitists” two hundred years ago held different values than the “elitists” today.
So, I suppose it all comes down to what values people hold and what people believe to be true and good.
I don’t believe that critically examining beliefs is necessarily equivalent to insulting them, although people may perceive criticism as an insult. Perceptions and intentions both matter, I suppose.
The elitists of both time periods think the same……..it is and was about preserving their way of life and fortune….by elitist I am talking about the politicians of the day….seldom was what was best for the country any consideration….
I do not mind any critical examination but when they use words like mental illness or evil or well you know what I mean…….using slogans and insults is NOT the way to better the country.
“The elitists of both time periods think the same……..it is and was about preserving their way of life…”
You’re missing the forest for the trees.
What was their way of life? Family, private property, religious freedom, individual liberty (except when it came to the ownership of slaves, of course. But hey, no one’s perfect.) Most of them were Christians and Deists who believed in a Creator. Most of them believed that morality relied upon a supernatural authority. Most of them derived their personal beliefs about morality from Christianity.
I wouldn’t say that the elitists of today have the same priorities: fighting for the “right” to kill ones unborn children, and the “right” for homosexuals to force society to not only sanction their sexual relationships but to subsidize them as well, and the “right” of Muslims to build a mosque at the site of a jihad attack. It’s amazing really. Where are their priorities?
“What’s best for the country” is the mantra of socialists and communists alike, so I am rather choosy about when I use that phrase. Typically what’s best for the individual is what’s best for the country in the long run…since without the individual you don’t have much of a country. Take North Korea as one extreme example.
And regarding insults…I guess I do remember reading about something written by a psychiatrist regarding liberalism being a mental illness (And no, I’m not talking about Michael Savage.)
Ah, here we go:
“The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness” by Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., M.D.
lol
But hey, who takes psychiatrists seriously anyway? 😛
We could argue and argue about such things as gay rights or abortion or many other issues that in my opinion are personal choices which I do not think is any of my business….so I avoid them for the sake of my sanity…..lol
Oh boy, the individual! I have found that the individual is a smart and resourceful unit….but put them into a group and the opposite becomes the norm…to me there is nothing wrong with talking about the country…after all we go to war for God and country……to me the individual needs the unit we call “country”….without it they would be wandering and eating twigs and seeds.
people are stupid
A+ would read again
Thanx and stop by more often….