this video made me aware of my lack of understanding of some political matters. I am grateful for the education
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlIjMJBSnRE
As defined in the video, I don't believe anyone posting here is a socialist (Leftist), although we've been called that
many times.
I also don't believe a Liberal can be a centralist, and therefore must be some what left of center ... but not enough to be called a Leftist.
it's a complicated semantic issue. Unfortunately, people (of both sides) throw names around, and, in the process, offend their targets unjustly. (this goes for both sides)
And let's not forget that the Nazis were Leftists/Socialists, with a streak of nationalism added.
And when somebody replies to a post that they live in the real world
One can only shake your head as it is impossible to expand some people's horizon
Mr Prager makes some excellent points, but he confuses contemporary liberalism with classical liberalism.
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2011/classical-versus-contemporary-liberalism
Classical liberalism is the foundation of libertarianism, a philosophy/ideology that is uniformly hated by todays left/contemporary liberals.
Contemporary liberalism is todays left, or the democratic party.
You can correctly assume classical liberals (libertarians) support capitalism and the free market, nationalism, American exceptionalism, Free Speech and western civilization.
Todays left, as we see even here on the forum, do not. They are opposed to secure borders, they support socialism in education and health care for now and are all for income redistribution. We know that free speech is nearly banned and at the least heavily discouraged on campuses and more and more on the internet. And how many debates have we seen where the left firmly takes the position that capitalism and free markets are evil? All of these are beliefs held, to some degree, by all of the contemporary liberals/leftists in todays democratic party who believe that America is great because of government and that more government will make America even greater. Classical liberals believe that government is a necessary evil and should be treated as such.
Tim, I do wish you could get rid of that broad brush with which you paint every thing black or white. (No racial pun intended.)
I would like to go point by point with your post but that would lead to more useless debate, and we have enough of that now.
I will admit to generalization and I did qualify that with "to some degree", but based on what I hear from elected dems, and assuming the people who vote for then at least largely agree, I doubt you could show me to be too far off the mark. How many tens of thousands on the left supported admitted socialist Bernie Sanders. Excluding the outright supporters, how many dems disagreed with his platform?
I'd be happy to debate point by point with you or anyone on the left, but I certainly understand your reluctance.
*Edit: I have stated before that I believe you to be an exception, a representative of the minority of the dem/left, and probably more closely align with the classical liberal. We have examples of extreme leftists here on the forum who are also in somewhat of a minority, but more closely reflect the "mainstream" contemporary liberal.
Thanks for the edit, Tim, but I'm just a cut-and-paste fact-checker and no different from mojo and the others in how we feel about what's happening to our country..
I think anyone paying attention has concerns. Anyone really paying attention has had concerns for a while.
Some of us see the yin/yang of it while others apparently only see the yang.
It is a wonderful advantage that dems continue to view pubs/trump supporters as inferior while we continue to score victories. Underestimation is a gift in any confrontation.
But a side note.. We don't get offended as easily as lib dems, for whom offense is a basic lifestyle. We are mostly amused, occasionally disgusted, but rarely offended.
"Underestimation is a gift in any confrontation."
So is overconfidence.
Tou "Freekin Che Carl :-)
May I ask.. Does MOJO's depiction/presentation line up with your own?
" while we continue to score victories."
How long have you been have these delusions of grandeur?
" while we continue to score victories."
How long have you been have these delusions of grandeur?
Here's 289 delusions for you mojo:
This doesn't even include my favorite:
"Trump’s decision, one year in, remains bold, brilliant, and correct. And it will only get better as the rest of the world confronts the disconnect between what economic coordination and progress require and what starry-eyed bureaucrats want.
Consumers desire the most affordable, plentiful, reliable energies. Taxpayers favor neutrality, non-involvement. And governments ’round the world need to direct their limited resources to real here-and-now problems, not speculative, distant, unsolvable ones. As such, the U.S.-side Paris-deflating decision is pro-world, leaving only parasitic bureaucrats in the cold."