What does "liberal" mean to you?

[mk12]

Often we see the label "liberal" (with a small L) thrown around on these boards as an insult...but what does it actually mean to you?

...and is it really such a bad thing?

A guardian reading, posh, white person who supports official multiculturalism, positive discrimination and other politically correct policies and focuses their attention on "movements" such as the anticapitalist and environmentalist movement.

I don't like to generalise though

 

[danny la rouge]

so...right....am I a liberal?

kinda libertarian (i know what that means)
left inclined (but not socialist or social democrat / more libertarian communist really)
radical
I dunno if i-m a reformist or a revolutionary (cos whilst I know that radical social change won-t happen through representative democracy, i don-t think it will happen through a revolution either)

no i don-t mind being a liberal, if i am one, but if i-m not then what am i?

No, you're not a liberal, you're a philosophical anarchist.

 

[durruti02]

A guardian reading, posh, white person who supports official multiculturalism, positive discrimination and other politically correct policies and focuses their attention on "movements" such as the anticapitalist and environmentalist movement.

I don't like to generalise though

and fundamentally are scared of and work against power being taken/used by the vast majority .. so not that liberal!!

 

[dash_two]

'Liberal' does also mean something like 'wanker' to some people, i.e. liberals are those hand-wringers who show a lack of enthusiasm for tough-minded talk of violent action. Both left- and right-wingers can use the term in that way, though in relation to different hypothetical situations in which it's a Good Thing to kill people.

 

[kyser_soze]

I'm a Presbeteryian Anarchist and fiercely proud of it!

Bloody liberals filling up the bloody world with bloody kids they can't afford to bloody feed etc

 

[nino_savatte]

yes, but there is the more voguish 'Guardian liberal' as well: pro mass migration, often dismissive of working class concerns, and yes basically pro-freemarkets but with some state involvement in health, etc.

You're a bitter fucker, aren't you?

 

[Das Uberdog]

No, you're not a liberal, you're a philosophical anarchist.

Fucking anarchists - think just because they pursue a utopian vision of society and in practice presume that their quest for purity of society is found in purity of mind rather than anything else (thus obviating the need for irritating practical considerations which stray from purism - like actually interacting in the society we live in) that their philosophy is somehow the unflawed absolute manifestation of libertarianism. Of course, the only reason chilango wouldn't call himself an anarchist is because he just hasn't realised it yet? You're as bad as the fuckin' SpeeGees.

chilango, nobody the fuck knows what political category you're in apart from yourself. They never will either. That's the great thing about having an independent mind.

 

[chilango]

Fucking anarchists - think just because they pursue a utopian vision of society and in practice presume that their quest for purity of society is found in purity of mind rather than anything else (thus obviating the need for irritating practical considerations which stray from purism - like actually interacting in the society we live in) that their philosophy is somehow the unflawed absolute manifestation of libertarianism. Of course, the only reason chilango wouldn't call himself an anarchist is because he just hasn't realised it yet? You're as bad as the fuckin' SpeeGees.

chilango, nobody the fuck knows what political category you're in apart from yourself. They never will either. That's the great thing about having an independent mind.

For many years, I was an Anarchist (note the big "a"). Often an organised one believe it or not. Just wondering where my cynicism towards revolution and equally cynical engagement with reformism left me...


...not that it matters in the slightest.

 

[kyser_soze]

'A man should not believe in an ism, a man should believe in himself'

 

[Idaho]

'A man should not believe in an ism, a man should believe in himself'

Selfism eh?

 

[kabbes]

'A man should not believe in an ism, a man should believe in himself'

Well that's pure libertarianlism, if ever I saw it.

 

[kyser_soze]

Buellerism you fools.

 

[kabbes]

I'm a Ferrisist.

 

[kyser_soze]

Heretic!!! There Is Only 1 True Way Of Bueller!!! The Ferrisist Splinter Groups Shall Be Crushed!!!

 

[kabbes]

Heretic!!! There Is Only 1 True Way Of Bueller!!! The Ferrisist Splinter Groups Shall Be Crushed!!!

You should save your ire for the Ferrists -- they are the true splitters.

 

[tbaldwin]

A Liberal is somebody who believes that a benevolent minority should rule in the interests of the majority.

 

[kyser_soze]

No, that's what socialists believe...maybe not in theory but in praxis..boom tish!

*runs away*

 

[Brainaddict]

A Liberal is somebody who believes that a benevolent minority should rule in the interests of the majority.

Again I don't think that's the actual philosophy. It may be one of the side effects of the philosophy and you may happen to hate it - but I think it is factually incorrect to call that liberalism.

 

[tbaldwin]

No, that's what socialists believe...maybe not in theory but in praxis..boom tish!

*runs away*

I agree that many people who call themselves Socialists believe in an enlightened minority taking power for the majority....
But i dont agree with any of that shit......I think Socialism has to be about majority power,simple as that....

 

[tbaldwin]

Again I don't think that's the actual philosophy. It may be one of the side effects of the philosophy and you may happen to hate it - but I think it is factually incorrect to call that liberalism.

I think its a fundamental flaw. But there are definite shades of Liberalism...Some are totally barking others are just past mile end...

 

[urbanrevolt]

We should be for the maximum freedom of all in a society based on workers' power where the working class run our own affairs and lives- based on a sytem of equality and freedom including rights for minorities.

Sometimes known as revolutionary socialism I believe.

 

[Brainaddict]

where the working class run our own affairs and lives

Are the yuppies allowed to run their own lives too?

 

[urbanrevolt]

If you mean by shitting on the rest of us and stealing our wealth, no. As individuals once expropriated yeah but not as capitalists. I prsume you mean a hedge fund manager or other capitalist type?

Working class comprise 99% of the population in this country- of course globally you could say working class and small farmers or toiling masses or whatever.

 

[bluestreak]

So have we agreed on a definition yet?

 

[Brainaddict]

Go and clean your bloody kitchen

 

[bluestreak]

I ain't cleaning it for you fuckers.

 

[Blagsta]

A Liberal is somebody who believes that a benevolent minority should rule in the interests of the majority.

That's technocracy, surely?

 

[Blagsta]

We should be for the maximum freedom of all in a society based on workers' power where the working class run our own affairs and lives- based on a sytem of equality and freedom including rights for minorities.

Sometimes known as revolutionary socialism I believe.

I want the abolition of class.

 

[nino_savatte]

A Liberal is somebody who believes that a benevolent minority should rule in the interests of the majority.

Ya fuckin' spoon!

 

[Lock&Light]

There are two 'liberal' parties represented in the Dutch parliament. One is to the right of the Tory center, and the other to the left of Labour's center. Yet they both claim to be 'liberal'.