What motivates your beliefs (Why are you a Liberal) ?

[_TJ_]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've
figured out that the thing that motivates my
beliefs more than any other thing is the instinctive
desire to be free and to live my life the way *I* want.

I don't want to be told what I have to do.
I don't want to be told what I have to think.
I don't want to be told what I have to say.
I don't want to be told how I have to act.

And conversely, I don't want to force anyone else
to act, think, or speak in a way they don't agree with.

I want to be free. I want everyone else to be free.

This is why I have such a liberal point of view.

This is why...

I don't want women to be told what they can and can't do
with their bodies.

I don't want people to be told when and under what conditions
they are allowed to end their own lives.

I don't want boys to be circumcised because they can't give
their consent.

I don't want animals used for entertainment because they can't
give their consent.

I don't like forced medicals/drug-tests in the workplace because
I don't want to be poked, prodded and pricked against my will.

I don't want violence used against children against their will.

I don't like jury duty because it is forced slavery - it should
be voluntary.

I don't want murderers executed - even though I despise murderers
for ignoring their victims right to live, I don't think we have
the right to take away the murderers life. Two wrongs never make a
right.

I don't like drugs being illegal for adults - people should be
allowed to do stupid things if they want to.

I don't like the concept of a military draft because it is
slavery. And I wouldn't want to be forced to kill other humans.

I am a stubborn bastard and I don't like people trying to control me.
But I am a FAIR bastard and I don't want to control anyone else
either :) :)

It seems that this principle of personal freedom above all else
is my primary motivator and is behind all of my liberal beliefs.

What is the motivation for your beliefs?

TJ

[iconoclastic cat]

1. I enjoy the general lack of blatant bigotry.

Not to say that liberals aren't biased--it's impossible not to have some bias. Liberals tend to self-examine and fix such errors in logic, whereas conservatives covet them.

[Squeech]

2. I agree with you

but I have a further rationale. Liberal cultures do better art. The freedom of inquiry leads artists and creative thinkers to boldly go where no man has gone before, and come back with much more interesting results. That's the biggie for me.

[_TJ_]

3. Yeah that's a damn good reason

I never would've thought of that!

[tavalon]

4. I'm a communitarian

I think that people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. I think that when people are starving and living in the streets that it benefits no one. I think that a lot of crime happens because people aren't receiving the respect, dignity and help deserved by all. I'm pretty tolerant overall and don't care to step on other people's rights.

Mostly, it's because I think and I have a heart. I don't see how I could be anything but liberal with the combination of those two.

[_TJ_]

5. Great minds think alike

Excelsior to you! :silly: :toast: :silly:

[Redstone]

6. Because I'm not a) stupid, b) selfish, or c) greedy

which seem the be the driving motivations for conservatives (or freepers or republicans or whatever they want to use as a label), either singly or in combination.

Redstone

[Archae]

7. Whoever said I was a liberal?

:evilgrin:

[_TJ_]

8. Ya can't fool me Archae

I can smell a liberals blood at 50 paces ;)

[El Fuego]

9. I'm liberal by default because. . .

I am not evil, stupid, mean, or ignorant.

[nuxvomica]

10. I have both aesthetic and pragmatic motivations

Fortunately they are not in conflict. Aesthetically, I am repulsed by cruelty and suffering. Pragmatically, I want a stable society where people are free to advance artistically, spiritually and scientifically -- that is, free to pursue the truths that banish whatever cruelty and suffering remains after we've stopped creating our own.

[_TJ_]

11. Well said

I'm sure your noble ideals will be realised someday.

[animuscitizen]

12. Because liberalism relates to my conception of government

My view can be summarized roughly as follows:
1) People are not angels, they are often ruled by passion and self interest rather than respect for others' rights or common good
2) Society is composed of diverse, pluralistic factions, which will continue to differ so long as basic liberties are respected
3) Government should strive to remain neutral with respect to society's competing factions
4) Government has two primary functions: to protect the liberties of citizens, especially against the majority faction, and to promote prosperity
5) To achieve these ends, government must be insulated from popular will and its powers diffused among the various branches

The Republican tradition tends to reject, in full or in part, each of these claims. Persons are often seen by Republicans primarily as members of a political community and a tradition, not as separate rights holders. Unlike the Republicans, I tend to view government with deep suspicion--especially when the government tries to "improve" human beings through religious faithfulness or subjective standards of moral decency.

[_TJ_]

13. You couldn't be more right

"4) Government has two primary functions: to protect the liberties of citizens, especially against the majority faction, and to promote prosperity"

Everyone should tattoo that onto the inside of their eyelids.