Liberal Or Conservative?

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 The T wrote:

 Sean Trane wrote:

Again the same old American misonception. 

Liberals are right wing everywhere in the world , except in the US, where they are considered the next worst left to communism

You'd expect them to get right after decades being told. 

That's another misconception, as the world doesn't end in Europe and the US. ... in South America, Conservatives are usually ancient landowners, church-going traditionals. But their vision of the economy is actually not that close to the one of the Republican Party, for example, as they still see some good in the existence of the State (as opposed to the Republicans -speciall reaganites- who would love to see the goverment only taking care of foreign issues). In South America, liberals are misunderstood. There are the so-called "neo-liberals", which sometimes are really the conservatives () which want a stronger market, and the traditional liberals, who want even more government but don't quite agree with an economic system! People in South America, specially in Andean countries, have been lied and told that we live in capitalism, which couldn't be any more far from the truth, as we don't have a lot of the requisites for a true free market and issues like monopoly, oligopoly and other "polies" still exist, along with something called "cacicazgo" (the figure of a powerful, messianic leader which everybody follows...).... There's also POPULISM, which americans hardly know. That's a non-ideological ideology ( believe me, that's a way of saying it) where everything is done to the please the masses while not changing their situation one bit. And, finally, what you call "left wing" in Southamerica is divided into two: those who think more socialist goverments like those in Europe are needed (Social Market Economy, an oxymoron but what can I do), but never quite figuring out HOW to go there, and the dinosaurs, the true LEFT wing, those that didn't sleep properly and still believe in Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, Mao, Castro and the Prophet for the Ones who Fail and Envy, "Che" Guevara. 

Oh how we would love to have your bi-partisan societies! Where you have reached a point where you can divide most people's views in 5 or 6 main directions like this poll does.... 

By the way, I'm a weird libertarian. .... I'm all for ABSOLUTE LIBERTY of everything (including doing yourself harm), ZERO CHURCH (even if I believe in some Bigger Thing, whatever it may be, I ABHORR most religion-imposed "morals", as those are the morals of the ANTI-HUMAN)... but at the same time, I want strong enough governments that can DO SOMETHING. 

Whatever I just said, I hope you'll get it.  

Actually if I remember well, the Democrats were just as conservative as the Republicans in the 50's and until Kenedy got to power , there started to have a slightly lefter stance (or at least less far-right), which got really accelerated once the Vietnam war got really bad dissed in the US, and the Summer Of Love thing helped. Robert Kenedy probably got killed for being too leftist for some of Johnson's backers. But at the times Hippiies were Libertarians not liberals.

I remember thisfar-right Evangelist Pat Robertson in campaign being asked how come hisfather was democrat and he replied that his fatherwas in the Democtrat party befoore it got taken over by liberals in 67. 

As for the Canafian Liberals, they stand where most Lib parties of Europe is, even if I heard from some ultra right-wingists saying (in the late 70's) that they had become a left wing party once Trudeau left the NPD for the Libs.

Which does incline to say that liberals are indeed more left wing, but I wouldn't call them socialists, either. In fact liberals can be seen as Entrepreneurial right and have some definite capitalist visions.

Edited by Sean Trane - May 21 2007 at 08:42

Poll Question: Liberal or Conservative?
Poll Choice	Votes	Poll Statistics
Very Liberal	9	[14.52%]
Liberal	17	[27.42%]
Moderate	14	[22.58%]
Conservative	7	[11.29%]
Very Conservative	3	[4.84%]
Libertarian	8	[12.90%]
I am a tool with no social/political opinions or knowledge	4	[6.45%]
This topic is closed, no new votes accepted