What core beliefs make us a liberal?

[The Whiskey Priest]

What are the paradigms that make us liberals? What metaphors do we, as liberals, use to explain the world?

Just what is a liberal?

[Shoeempress]

1. Not hating everyone instantly because they are different. We hate when we

have a reason.

[Danocrat]

2. I would say it boils down to community

"It takes a village" type mentality

[Vanje]

3. Our capacity for fear........

......is less than our capacity for love.

[wildeyed]

4. I believe in economic and social justice.

I believe in trying to make things fair, even if we don't succeed 100%. Metaphors, paradigms, I dunno, too complicated for me. My beliefs are pretty simple.

[Sleepysage]

5. Compassion. Compassion without conditions.

[grannylib]

6. I pretty much go with the dictionary definitions:

In favor of progress or reform.
In favor of representational government, rather than monarchies or aristocracies.
Generous.
Free.

Sums it up pretty well for me.

[Jayster84]

7. Some examples.

A good education is a right not a privilege.
Government should protect it's citizens, not corporations.

[demnan]

8. Mine:

Everyone is equal - regardless of sex, sexual orientation, race, religion or nationality.

Poor people deserve a hand up - If there are rich and middle class people in the society they should be expected to support social programs to help the poor.

The society should support public services to provide adequate and even superior support services for education, transportation, charity, the arts, as well as for the public defense of the citizenry.

The society of people will respect the free speech of all its citizens.

[Snotcicles]

9. We put humanity above property

[LadyinRed]

14. The Golden Rule

applied to all things; all people, all animals, the earth, etc.

[lostnfound]

17. Awesome and succinct. nt

[rman]

25. alternatively: society above corporations

corporate interests claim to do the same thing; "give us your money and things will be better for all in the future". but the numbers clearly show supply side economics achieves the opposite of what was promised.

Now people are catching on to the fact that we'll never reach the carrot that has been dangling in front of us for the past 30 years or so.

www.reclaimdemocracy.org

[sandnsea]

10. Reason over dogma

Any dogma. Always being willing to look to the future, toss out old ideas, receptive to change.

[ilovenicepeople]

11. for myself I would say:

"Do unto others as you wish to be treated." and "BE GOOD"!!!

[Kali]

12. Tolerance and compassion.

as in the oposite of bigotry and greed.

[Diana52]

13. Recognition

that with privilege comes responsibility.

I liberally believe that the privilege of being an American comes with the responsibility to help provide for those less privileged.

[cali]

15. Tolerance.

Open mindedness.

"Tolerance is a very dull virtue. It is boring. Unlike love, it has always had a bad press. It merely mean putting up with people, being able to stand things.....This is the only force which will enable different races and classes and interests to settle down together.....The world is very full of people- appallingly full; it has never been so full before, and they are all tumbling over each other. Most of these people one doesn't know, and some of them one doesn't like doesn't like the colour of their skins, say, or the shape of their nose, or the way they blow them or don't blow them, or the way they talk, or their smell, or their clothes, or their fondness for jazz or their dislike of jazz, and so on.... There are tow solutions. One of them is the nazi solution. If you don't like people, kill them, banish the, segregate them, and then strut up and sown proclaiming you are the salt of the earth. The other way is much less thrilling......If you don't like people, put up withem as well as you can. Don't try to love them: You can't, you'll only strain yourself. but try to tolerate them. On the basis of that tolerance, a civilised future may be built."

E.M. Forester

[Cadence]

16. have you read this

"Joe gets up at 6:00 am to prepare his morning coffee. He fills his pot full of good clean drinking water because some liberal fought for minimum water quality standards. He takes his daily medication with his first swallow of coffee. His medications are safe to take because some liberal fought to insure they are safe and work as advertised.
All but $10.00 of his medications are paid for by his employers medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance, now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs this day. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
Joe takes his morning shower reaching for his shampoo; His bottle is properly labeled with every ingredient and the amount of its contents because some liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained. Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some tree hugging liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
Joe walks to the subway station for his government subsidized ride to work; it saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees. You see, some liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Joe begins his work day; he has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation days because some liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some liberal didn't think he should loose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
It's noon time, Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposits are federally insured by the FSLIC because some liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Depression.
Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae underwritten mortgage and his below market federal student loan because some stupid liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his life-time.
Joe is home from work, he plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive to dads; his car is among the safest in the world because some liberal fought for car safety standards.
Joe arrives at his boyhood home. He was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electric until some big government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification. (Those rural Republican's would still be sitting in the dark).
Joe is happy to see his dad who is now retired. His dad lives on Social Security and his union pension because some liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to. After his visit with dad he gets back in his car for the ride home.
Joe turns on a radio talk show, the host's keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. (He doesn't tell Joe that his beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day) Joe agrees, "We don't need those big government liberals ruining our lives; after all, I'm a self made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have".
by John Gray, Cincinnati, Ohio

[juliagoolia]

21. THIS IS GREAT

I love it... thank you thank you thank you

[JudyM]

38. This speaks volumes. Thanks for posting it. Link?

[juliagoolia]

18. Giving a DAMN about someone other than yourself

And not caring if they are different before you give a damn.

Willing to accept social responsiblity for each other.

Doing what it takes so that our brothers and sisters aren't without and are lifted up!

[knight_of_the_star]

19. Justice

Whether it be legal, economic, or social, Justice reigns over all things. A society that cannot deliver Justice to its people is not a free society, and progressives throughout history have ALWAYS sought Justice for ALL, not just for the few, the wealthy, the powerful.

[oscar-something]

20. here's what i think

tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition. i think a liberal is a person who believes it is the duty of government to improve social conditions and create a more equitable society. liberals favor generous spending on the welfare state; they exhibit a concern for minorities, the poor, and the disadvantaged and often see these conditions as a product of social injustices rather than individual failings.

[muse]

22. Agree with most of what Oscar says

Tolerance is such a key thing to me. Not just tolerant of change, but tolerant of differing views. I am tolerant of a person's view on being against abortions. I just don't think we should legislate based on personal views. I'm tolerant about right wing Christian views. I just don't think those views should run our government or affect our Supreme Court nominations.

I think that being liberal means that you think government can and should be applied to certain big problems or systems that only it can "fix" or solve or be applied to. But, I don't think that being liberal means you have to favor being a "big" government spender on the welfare state.

The last part of what Oscar says about seeing these conditions as a product of social injustices is beautiful.

[neebob]

23. Hippy's, move to France!

Sorry, I just really wanted to say that. I agree with oscar-something, but I'd boil it down to a basic belief that everyone should live together in something resembling harmony and be taken care of.

[rainbow4321]

24. UU principles....

Being a UU, I think the UU principles describe it best:

http://www.uua.org/aboutuua/principles.html

The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

[LeftHander]

30. Hi UU!

another UU here...

I was going to post them too.

[mandyky]

26. Open minded and forward thinking

Liberals are the Golden Rule, Right Wingers are an eye for an eye.

Liberals turn the other cheek, RWers are might makes right.

Liberals think of new ideas and solutions while RWers want to turn back the clock.

[mcgovern]

27. motto

From each according to their means. To each according to their needs.

[newyawker99]

34. Hi mcgovern!!

Welcome to DU!!

[ispeculate]

28. Our core beliefs probably vary widely, but...

our values are more common. Here are some of my top core values:

1)freedom

2)peace

3)justice

[hedda_foil]

29. This is just wonderful!

But of course our dear Dem "leadership" doesn't seem to get that these are OUR universal values that are far more compelling than the narrow, fundie "values" they're trying to co-opt.

[welshTerrier2]

31. democracy

we believe in a system of government that empowers each and every adult to participate in the process of governance in a relatively equal way ... we believe that when some are able to wield disproportionate power, democracy dies ...

corruptions of our democratic institutions include the high cost of running for office, an absence of free media for legitimate candidates, overly centralized media, paid lobbyists and corporate "personhood" ... we believe that government must represent the best interests of all citizens, not just those with massive wealth and disproportionate access to power ...

we are liberals because we believe our system of government should represent our "values" and not the greedy pursuit of corporate profits ...

[rniel]

32. I think for me 3 things

Justice, Equality, Empathy

[ispeculate]

33. Conservatism vs Liberalism

http://www.quinnell.us/politics/essay/liberalsconservat...

[Zhade]

35. Corporate-friendly, anti-civil liberties, pro-Republican rule.

Wait, that's the DLC. Never mind.

[Catfight]

36. The core belief that everyone deserves to be treated equally and

with respect.

[whosinpower]

37. Liberals generally believe

liberals =empathy enablers.
republicans=unbending disciplinarians.

I can't remember where I read it - but it made a connection with a liberal being like a loving mother whose empathy towards others made a person want to do good.
And the republican was like a father - whose unbending discipline made you too afraid to do bad.

[JudyM]

39. Has anyone ever seen a personality profile of dem or rethug 'types?'

seems like it's not just values but personality, or more likely some combo. I'd love to see that.