I'd like to write a new Manifesto for liberals - kind of like what your favorite employer calls a vision statement, but with teeth and claws.

So, if you consider yourself a liberal, what is it, exactly, that you stand for?

If you're not a liberal, I've already heard what YOU think we are a zillion times, so don't go saying the same old "tree-hugging hippy" bullshit - or I promise to hold up your comments as examples of why we need a new liberal manifesto in the first place.

edit: i think we need an equivalent statement for conservatives, damien. just as many conservatives think liberals are tree-hugging hippies, many liberals (probably most of them) think that all conservatives are self-serving rich old white men with nothing on their minds except getting re-elected and passing legislation to help their frat buddies get even richer.

This message has been edited by CatKnight on May 28, 2001 at 10:14 PM

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Originally posted by CatKnight:
i think we need an equivalent statement for conservatives, damien.

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Er, you do NOT want me to write it considering I'm biased in the opposite direction Why don't you start a "Conservative Manifesto" thread, and we'll compare notes or just have a nice flamewar later

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just as many conservatives think liberals are tree-hugging hippies, many liberals (probably most of them) think that all conservatives are self-serving rich old white men with nothing on their minds except getting re-elected and passing legislation to help their frat buddies get even richer.

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I don't think ALL conservatives are like that - but I do think that conservatives earned that stereotype just as much as liberals earned the "tree-huggin' hippy" one. Republicans have long embraced the religious right, and Democrats have long embraced the (often rowdy and rebellious) environmentalists.

FYI, the '96 election was a pretty good year. Bob Dole would've been a good President... I just didn't trust his party enough to vote for him.

Anyway, start a conservative thread... hopefully we can have a much more productive debate that way without having to resort to the hideous name-calling that pervades other threads.

I'm more on the liberal side than conservative. I believe that the government is supposed to help level the playing field for all people, so that they can succeed or fail on their own. I don't think the government is ment to let people sit on their asses all day, doing nothing and getting paid for it. At the same time, I think the government should help those who start out at a disadvantage, such as the poor and/or minorities that don't have the same reasourses as others, such as rich and/or white people. That's why I don't believe in school vouchers because all they server to do is make the devide between rich and poor people even wider. Instead of leting the middle class kids leave public schools, we should be finding a why to make public schools compete on the same level as the private schools. It's possible, we just need to figure out how. Anyway, that's what I believe, more or less. I'm more than happy to clarify any of my views, expand, or answer any questions.

might want to think that one over..

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Oh, ho, ho, irony! Oh, no, no, we don't get that here. See, uh, people ski topless here while smoking dope, so irony's not really a high priority. We haven't had any irony here since about, uh, '83, when I was the only practitioner of it. And I stopped because I was getting tired of being stared at.
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Originally posted by damien_s_lucifer:
and thank you, demonk, for a well-stated point of view. and you, sithee, never one for beating around the Bush, are ya?

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oh no, im definitly for beating the bush. beating it a lot. with a big stick.

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Originally posted by SimplyModest:
isn't writing a manifesto for liberals kind of contradictory... i mean, isn't part of being liberal, NOT being bound by anything (such as tradition, or even perhaps... what other people say "being liberal" is ?)

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I view it more as have a set of rules and guidelines that can evolve and change over time. A rule or guideline that makes perfect sense right now, might be pointless or even counterproductive 10 years from now. So why should we follow guidelines from a time that had not possible way of invisioning situations that we have in the present? In a way, your right, and wrong at the same time. we follow rules when they are applicable, and when there are no rules for our situation, we make new ones or modify old ones. Much like our Consitution which can be changed to accomidate newer ways of thinking and/or doing something. Does that answer your question?

the communist manifesto is a menifesto, however. but it can't be changed, so you're wrong. either that or i am very confused

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Originally posted by CatKnight:
i am very confused

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There's a statement we can all agree with.

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