Am I a "liberal?"

[Floogeldy]

It is my position that the federal government has limited powers. At the beginning of the last century, there was a huge debate about whether or not the federal government had the power to make illegal or criminalize the possession of drugs. That argument would never be successful today.

There is a lot of other shit that I want the federal government to stay away from, except for insuring that the states respect individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

I do acknowledge, gladly, that the government has almost unlimited power in providing for the general welfare of the people.

Am I a "liberal?"

(Edited for punctuation)

[MrBenchley]

1. I always wonder about these threads....

I've never known anybody in real life who is sitting around racked with doubt about what causes they support and what they call themselves....

[Floogeldy]

2. I am not racked with doubt about what causes I support.

In fact, I am not even talking about "causes." I am talking about constitutional interpretation and labels.

[MrBenchley]

3. You need a label?

Weird....

[Floogeldy]

4. Why would I "need" a label?

Would you get a point if it kicked you in the ass?

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Floogeldy]

6. Thanks for the heads up, Solon.

:)

[Solon]

10. No problem...

Believe me, if you want consistancy from HIM, forget it, and also forget trying to debate with him, he's like talking to a brick wall.

[GAPeace]

9. I met Mr. B for the first time today and have been wondering ever since

Why he seems to have a problem with virtually everyone on DU. Bad hair day?

[Solon]

12. No, just SOP...

That's "Standard Operating Procedure" for him at least.

[MrBenchley]

15. If you're flinging it, why would anyone want it?

So give the lad his label so we can all sleep happily....

[Solon]

17. You better watch it...

your superiority complex is showing again, not to mention the fact that this thread just went straight over your head. Why don't you just go play along with the other kids over at myspace or something and leave the adults to the mature conversations.

[MrBenchley]

19. LOL! It's not a complex....but the real deal.

So give the boy his label, why doncha?

[Solon]

22. Well, at least you are honest...

about being egotistical, at the very least. I could add more choice words, but to be honest, I think you would take it as a compliment. Just one question, how old are you, 15?

[MrBenchley]

23. Enjoy the libertarian blah....

[Solon]

28. There is nothing wrong with being a Social Libertarian...

However, Economic Libertarians are insane, to put it mildly.

[MrBenchley]

30. Enjoy the libertarian blah

Wonder why it isn't on libertarian underground...oh that's right, the libertarians' own party isn't worth shit.

[Warren DeMontague]

40. Okay, I will blah.

See you later blah.

[MrBenchley]

14. I got no fucking idea why you started this thread

[Floogeldy]

20. We noticed.

:smoke:

[MrBenchley]

21. Well, enjoy your label

whatever the fuck it is.

[Floogeldy]

24. Hey! I think you finally got it.

:smoke:

[MrBenchley]

25. And it wasn't worth the getting.....

[Floogeldy]

26. You pursued it. Not me.

Blame yourself for responding.

:smoke:

[MrBenchley]

27. I still wonder if anyone honestly needs a label

and the answer,. as we see, is that it's always cheap rhetoric by someone trying to shoehorn some silly libertarian blah.....

[Solon]

29. That's cheap coming from someone who doesn't hesitate to call...

everyone who disagrees with him as "Far Left" as if it were an insult.

[MrBenchley]

31. Go cry about it to the libertarians

and see if I give two shits....

[Warren DeMontague]

36. Benchley's arguments run pretty much the same in every thread

On flag burning, I mentioned that despicable people, even Nazis have the right to free speech- so, obviously, I'm a Nazi. Benchley put me in my place by telling me "Go hang out with your friends, the Nazis". (Now, compare that with the post above. The beauty of his arguments is, all you have to do is plug in the proper word -exchange "nazi" for "loony lefty" for "libertarian"- and, no matter the thread, you're good to go!)

Ah, all my arguments quiver and shake at the feet of such ironclad logic and insurmountable debating skills as that.

I think we should have a DU Mrbenchley debating prize. With a trophy an' everything.

[Solon]

38. LOL, love the picture!

Logic is definately NOT his strong suit, I will say that.

[Floogeldy]

33. Did you just label me a "libertarian?"

:rofl:

[MrBenchley]

42. Weren't you begging for a label?

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Socially Libertarian or Left Libertarian

That one works for me when discussing the "right" (kaff!) of governments to tell consenting adults what they may do with their own bodies, insofar as they aren't harming or interfering with anyone else.

Here's a good site for you, if you want to take it off the simple left-right axis:

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

My numbers: Economic Left/Right: -4.38 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.97

[Solon]

8. I would agree...

I fall under the same label, so to speak. I don't care what you do yourself, take drugs, drink, prostitution(regulated like any other business), etc. as long as you do no harm to anyone else. In other words, the minimal amount of laws regulating people's behavior. At the same time, I think practically the opposite when it comes to businesses and social welfare, UHC systems, really strong corporate regulations, including revoking charters, etc. are all fine by me.

[Floogeldy]

13. You are a person of intellect and distinction.

I salute you.

:patriot:

[Solon]

16. I salute you too.

Though I think you give me WAY too much credit, believe me in this, I didn't learn my politics from books, but from experience and common sense. 2 years working at Wal*Mart taught me a LOT, before I worked there, I was a Randian type of Libertarian, now, I'm an Anarcho-Syndicalist/Socialist, if you wanna get specific. Talk about a turnaround! :)

[Warren DeMontague]

34. Hell yar. Retail will do that to you.

Years of working at or near minimum wage damn near made me a Trotskyist. I'm sure it accounts for not only my passionate belief in a SPHC system, but also my passionate belief in not being a shitty tipper.

It sounds like I agree with the both of yous on most of this stuff.

Corporations have too much freedom, individuals too little. Black is white, up is down and Situation Normal is All Fucked Up.

:patriot:

[Solon]

37. I will say that I had fantasies of leading an army of...

Communists to invade Bentonville, AR, but that was right before I quit. To be honest, I mellowed out over the years since working there, I was damned near a revolutionary Communist by the time I left that hellhole! :)

[BuyingThyme]

11. I'll check your phone logs and get back to you.

[lonestarnot]

32. I'll check the bank account.

:rofl:

Just kidding Floogeldy

[Make7]

18. Am I "Liberia"? ( n/t )

[Warren DeMontague]

35. Take the "Country Quiz", and find out!

http://bluepyramid.org/ia/cquiz.htm

Apparently, I'm Mexico.

[Make7]

39. That's funny - I'm the United Nations. That's not even a @#$%! country.

Well, at least I'm not Liberia - that name looks frighteningly close to the word "liberal". Yikes!

Thanks for your help - I was worried for a while there.

Well, I'd better haul my ass over to Lebanon pronto... I hope I don't get shot by Israel...

:) Make7

[SmokingJacket]

41. I don't think liberalism is about state vs. federal, so much.

As I use the term, a liberal is someone who believes in individual rights/personal freedom inasmuch as it doesn't harm others or the environment, and and favors community responsibility for the weak, indigent, and elderly. That's about it.

So, sure you're a liberal, if you feel like one. What's the problem?

I don't think being a liberal means supporting a nanny state, if that's your question.