Liberal

Liberal
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A satirical conception of the liberal brain.
A satirical conception of the liberal brain.

A liberal supports many of the following political positions and practices:

* A government with large spending on social programs, and high taxes to support such programs
* Taxpayer-funded and/or legalized abortion
* Income redistribution, usually through progressive taxation
* Government-rationed and taxpayer-funded medical care, such as Universal Health Care
* Taxpayer-funded public education
* The denial of inherent gender differences
* Wanting men and women to have the same access to jobs in the military
* Legalized same-sex marriage
* Implimentation of affirmative action
* Political correctness
* Censorship of teacher-lead prayer in classrooms and school sponsored events
* Support of labor unions
* Teaching "comprehensive" sex-ed programs instead of abstinence-only programs.[1]
* A "living Constitution" that is reinterpreted in a modern context, instead of how it was originally intended
* Support for gun control
* Government programs to rehabilitate criminals
* Abolition of death penalty
* Environmentalism[2]
* Disarmament treaties
* Globalism
* Opposition to an interventionalist American foreign policy [3]
* Support of obscenity and pornography as a First Amendment right[4]
* Opposition to full private property rights[5]
* Reinstating the Fairness Doctrine
* In 2005, it was reported by CBS News that liberals were the most likely supporters of the theory of evolution. Support for the theory of evolution which is a key component of atheistic ideologies in the Western World.
* Opposition to domestic wire-tapping as authorized in the Patriot Act
* Calling anyone they agree with a "professor" regardless of whether he earned that distinction based on a real peer review of his work (see, e.g., Richard Dawkins and Barack Obama).

Contents
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* 1 Liberalism in North America today
o 1.1 Liberal Rankings of Congress Members
* 2 Liberalism in Europe today
* 3 Historical Liberalism
* 4 Original meaning: Classical Liberalism
* 5 Alternative meanings of 'liberal'
* 6 Liberal Organizations
* 7 See Also
* 8 Further Information
* 9 References

Liberalism in North America today

Democrats and many media outlets in the U.S. are often liberal.[6]

* Some argue that liberals typically support economic policy similar to that of fascism. [7]

* Liberals claimed a monopoly on compassion, decency, and social justice (as defined by themselves), posing as the sole defenders of civic virtue against a horde of backwoodsmen, racists, and religious fanatics. [4]

Liberal Rankings of Congress Members

The National Journal compiles the votes of each congress member each year and uses the information to create rankings[8] of how liberal each member of the United States Congress is. In addition to showing the voting records of each member and given an overall all ranking of liberalness, the National Journal also ranks congress members by liberalness in the areas of social, economic, and foreign policy.
Liberalism in Europe today

In Europe, on the other hand, parties that call themselves liberal are moderate in outlook, ranging from centre-left to centre-right, promote typically economic and business freedom. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[9] is a party of the European Parliament that represents most liberal parties from European countries. Similar policies are promoted by many liberal parties throughout the world,[10] such as the Liberal Party of Australia.[11]

Trade unions and socialist parties often criticize politicians for promoting lower taxes on business, or more flexible hiring and firing laws, by calling them "liberals" or neoliberals. Thus, just as in the US, "liberal" may occasionally be used as a term of abuse. But when someone is called "liberal" in Europe, it has an entirely different meaning than in the US. In fact, the US meaning of liberal is more similar to the politics of European socialist or social democratic parties.[12]
Historical Liberalism

In history, the word "liberal" has meant different things at different times, and was associated with individual liberty in prior centuries. In the postwar period, liberals supported government intervention in the economy and welfare state policies, as well as peaceful coexistence with the communist block, which are not liberal policies in the sense of classical liberalism. After the end of the cold war, with the demise of socialism and communism, many liberals embraced some ideas from economic neo-liberalism, and coined it the "Third Way". In the area of national security and foreign policy liberals in the U.S. failed to define a consistent stance, even after the events of 9/11 and the beginning of the war in Iraq. Liberals generally support affirmative action, gay marriage, and abortion.[13]
Original meaning: Classical Liberalism

Liberalism is a political philosophy with freedom as its core value. The term was originally applied to supporters of individual liberties and equal rights, but, in America, the term has come to represent a movement of social change that often conflicts with conservative values such as moral values and tradition.

See Classical Liberalism. Compare Libertarianism.
Alternative meanings of 'liberal'

One definition of liberal is anything that is not conservative. For example, the American Heritage Dictionary includes this definition of "liberal":[14]

* Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas ...

Liberal Organizations

* AARP - American Association of Retired People
* ACLU - American Civil Liberties Union
* AFL-CIO - American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
* AI - Amnesty International
* Democratic National Committee
* Greenpeace
* NARAL - National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
* NAACP - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
* National Committee for an Effective Congress
* National Education Association
* National Organization of Women
* Planned Parenthood Federation of America
* Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
* MoveOn.org
* A.N.S.W.E.R.

Source: The Politix Group
See Also

* Articles about liberals
* Classical liberal
* Drinking Liberally
* Godless liberal
* Hollywood values
* Last wordism
* Liberal activists
* Liberal arts
* Liberal Arts college
* Liberal Bias
* Liberal celebrity obsession
* Liberal Behavior on Conservapedia
* Liberal Christianity
* Liberal deceit
* Liberal Democrats
* Liberal denial
* Liberal Elite
* Liberal Falsehoods
* Liberal Fascism
* Liberal friendship
* Liberal Gloss
* Liberal grading
* Liberal hate speech
* Liberal Hypocrisy
* Liberal hysteria
* Liberal ideology
* Liberal Intellectualism
* Liberalism and art
* Liberal labels
* Liberal Lies About the American Right
* Liberal logic
* Liberal Mind
* Liberal Myths
* Liberal obfuscation
* Liberal Party
* Liberal quotient
* Liberal supremacist
* Liberal Style
* Liberal tools
* Liberal tricks
* Liberal values
* Massachusetts liberal
* Professor values

Further Information

* Conservative Links

Liberal characteristics and traits

Bias • Deceit • Denial • Friendship • Global warming • Globalism • Gun control • Hate speech • Hollywood values • Homosexual agenda • Hypocrisy • Ideology • Liberals • Logic • Myths • Obfuscation • Quotient • Redefinition • School grading • Style • Values


References

1. ↑ Democrats Aim To Kill Abstinence-Only Program Funding, Fox News, Monday, June 25, 2007
2. ↑ Greenpeace, for example.
3. ↑ Stefaan Walgrave and Joris Verhulst, The February 15 Worldwide Protests against a War in Iraq: An Empirical Test of Transnational Opportunities. Outline of a Research Programme(PDF).
4. ↑ The Warren Court, led by liberal Justices William O. Douglas, Hugo Black, Abe Fortas, William Brennan and Chief Justice Earl Warren issued 36 decisions granting First Amendment rights to obscenity and pornography. These decisions remain fully supported by liberals today.
5. ↑ For example, the liberal wing of the U.S. Supreme Court issued the 5-4 Kelo v. City of New London decision authorizing the taking of private property by government in order to give the property to another private entity rather than convert it to a public use.
6. ↑ Media Bias basics. Media Research Center.
7. ↑ Video discussion about how modern liberalism is actually fascist by author Jonah Goldberg..
8. ↑ http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/index.htm
9. ↑ http://www.alde.eu
10. ↑ http://www.liberal-international.org/
11. ↑ [1]
12. ↑ [2]
13. ↑ "Political liberals tend, for whatever reason, to be ardent supporters of both gay rights and pro-choice programs." Greenberg and Bailey [3]
14. ↑ Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberal

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Categories: Liberals | Politics | Political ideologies