Just curious!! - Page 2

I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle. Jokes about Liberals aren't as funny as jokes about Conservatives, so I think I lean more towards the Liberal end.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

The problem with labels of conservative or liberal is that it is overtly too simplistic. To what is the label referring to, social policies, economic, individual liberty, size of government? Or why do the religious vote conservative since conservative is suppose to 'shrink' government and do not interfere with the personal aspects of an individual. And of course there is the issue of empirical evidence. If let us say there is clear evidence that strict gun control can drastically reduce crime then would a conservative favour gun control so that they are "tough on crime?"

It would seem that political parties for some reason or other 'locked in' sets of voters in the past and that each of these set of voters do not necessary see eye to eye. But each party would not want to change their policies for fear of losing their votes.

Here is a nice quiz that helps you to determine which part of the spectrum you are by separating out economic and social policies.

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

And, another nice and satirical website that 'shows' the positions the 1) conservative, 2) liberal 3) Libertarian and 4) Communist take on each issue.

http://www.geocities.com/donaldjhagen/humoroustest.html

Very interesting test, although I wish there had been a "no opinion" choice for many of the questions. But I guess I'm a true liberal/"lefty" and libertarian (along with the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela):

Your political compass
Economic Left/Right: -7.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.85

I try to watch the Senate & House debates on CSPAN, and I usu. wind up agreeing with the Dems. I am pro-choice, even though I do believe that abortion is taking of human life and would feel that if I had done it, I would have commited murder. However, I also feel that if someone is really pro-life they will commit their extra time to helping out women who have an "unwanted" pregnancy - for instance, maybe offering to help out with daycare, or even occasional babysitting, so she can have time to work, get schooling or even just respite care. In other words, don't call someone a murderer, but instead, broadcast the message, "I'm here to help if you need it". It takes more than a once-a-year rally to be committed to a cause.

Socially, I am extremely far to the left, although by NO MEANS militant or radical.

It must be noted, however, that I know nothing about money and budgets beyond making deposits, balancing the checkbook and paying the bills

So, you're all for a smaller goverment with less government regulation, basically?

It seems like on a lot of social issues, you're moderate to left, but the smaller govt theng is definitely conservative, and I didn't want to misunderstand you!

I'm of the opinion that Barry Goldwater leaned a bit too far to the left to suit me.

Right on, katl8e ! ! !

Leonard

On most issues, I am very liberal:

- I am very, very pro-choice - pro-abortion, even - prior to viability of the fetus (unlike many pro-choicers, I honestly don't see the problem with abortions prior to viability, and do not see them as particularly regrettable or unfortunate - I'd have one myself without a second thought if I were to get pregnant). After viability of the fetus, however, I feel that abortions should only be allowed if the fetus is discovered to be seriously disabled to the degree that it would only suffer terribly (I am NOT talking about finding out that a fetus has down's syndrome or something, I mean something very serious), or if the abortion is necessary to save the mother's life.

- I'm wholeheartedly support gay marriage (and equal rights for everyone, for that matter).

- I do not believe that religion should have ANY influence in creating laws, nor do I think it has any place in public schools, government, etc. - I feel its presence is appropriate only in private homes and places of worship.

- I am very, very anti-Iraq war, and am anti-war in general (though at the end of the day, I do believe that a country has the right to defend itself against a direct attack, however, I feel that war should be seen, even then, as a last resort, and NEVER treated with the sick attitude of 'rah, rah, let's go smoke some Ay-rabs, woooo!' that I've seen, but as a sad, unfortunate necessity).

- I consider myself a liberal feminist - I believe that all people should be treated equally and be able to make choices about what to do with their lives (what career to pursue, for example), etc. without discrimination based on gender.

- I am anti-guns - I do not believe that any good can come of private citizens owning weapons, and I do not think that anyone besides law enforcement officials has any business owning them.

- I support universal healthcare and am completely against privatisation of any kind.

- I am pro-animal rights. I am not an extemist of the PETA sort - I do not believe that animals should have rights equal to those of human beings, or that owning domestic animals as pets is wrong, nor am I a vegan - I have no problem eating eggs or drinking milk as long as the animals who produced them were treated humanely, but I feel strongly that animals should be treated with respect and dignity and allowed to live a life free of pain or suffering, that is suitable to their species, and that they should NOT be killed other than for humane reasons. I am a vegetarian and anti-hunting (unless you're an African tribesperson or something, and absolutely must kill animals to survive).

- I am against the death penalty.

-ethnocentrism and jingoism infuriate and sicken me, and I strongly believe in international cooperation and consensus.

I do have a few conservative issues, though:

- Crime - while I don't agree with the death penalty, I am all about locking up violent offenders and throwing away the key - it doesn't matter to me whether a violent offender *can* be rehabilitated, rather, if someone has committed a violent crime and was not out of their mind or unable to understand their actions (if you're a paranoid schizophrenic who was having a psychotic episode, or are mentally challenged to the degree that you're unable to understand right from wrong, or something along those lines, then that's a different story), then I believe that person deserves to rot in jail without any luxuries of any kind for a long, long time, if not forever, and does not *deserve* to be rehabilitated whether or not they *could* be rehabilitated or not.

- Welfare - I feel the guidelines for who can receive it should be MUCH stricter, and that there should be stipualtions attached (bettering yourself via education or training) and a reasonably short time limit for how long a person can receive it - also, I don't believe that breeding and then going on welfare to support yourself should be an option - it really upsets me to hear women who are pregnant say that they just can't bear the idea of having an abortion or putting the baby up for adoption, so they'll just go on welfare and keep it - IMO pay to raise it yourself, have an abortion or give it up for adoption should be the ONLY options - the government should not be paying for peoples' lifestyle choices. (I'm only referring to physically and mentally healthy people with the above, mind you - I believe that disability benefits should be *easier* for people who are ill, physically or mentally, to get, so that these people don't have to go on welfare).

- Some womens'/family 'rights' - I do not support the year-long paid maternity leave - while I believe, as I said above, that women should be able to chose what to do with their lives, whether that be working or staying home to raise children, and while I believe that both of these are valid choices, I do NOT think that women should be able to have their cake and eat it too on the governments' dime - want to have a career? Great. Want to have kids? Great. Want to do both and figure out how to do this on your own without expecting the governments'/your employers' handouts - also great. But wanting a career, and also wanting a baby, and then expecting to be able to stay home for a whole year and still be paid, and also expecting to receive other special privileges and concessions at work in order to make the situation workable? Not good in my opinion. Also, I do not think that we need 'affordable daycare' - I think that we need people who can't afford daycare not to breed.

I've never cared much for labels tho I am prob a democratic socialist who like everyone else here has conservative views on some things and progressive ones on others. Hate the term liberal, lol

Re: I didn't realize that there were no secular marriages in Israel.

I think it depends on where you live in Israel. I lived on a kibbutz in Israel (about 3% of the Israeli pop, Golda Meir lived on one after she retired from being PM) and the marriages there were secular. No rabbi!! But there are different types of kibbutzim too and some are religious. Anyway, not to suggest you are incorrect but a tint group do manage to marry sans a rabbi.

I'm extremely liberal about some things and extremely conservative about some things.

and in the middle on the rest of the stuff.

I'm living in a VERY VERY VERY conservative area... but there are us middle-liberal-conservatives crawling around who people probably leer at. Ah well.

I find that I am very liberal in my beliefs! I associate myself with the green party, loosely, though because they're also sort of off kilter because they plan things like the entire green party moving to rhode island in order to make one state HAVE to have a green party person on the docket.

I'm considered pretty liberal. It is a bad time to be liberal in this country. I feel like I'm going to get burned at the stake somedays. I have friends who many different political views, so we try to stay away from politics as conversation topics.