Reply #32: I don't think I am.

[last1standing]

I think you're letting old stereotypes make you link a monetary system with political beliefs. While it's a common assertion that communism is to the left of liberalism, they are two entirely different things. I've known liberal capitalists and communists just as I've known conservatives of either group. In fact, the strawman that was set up was when repubs, led by Joe McCarthy, tied liberals in with communism without any real merit.

Maybe it would be best to think of progressivism as an overarching philosophy of life, if it helps for this conversation, while liberalism is more related to political stance. One stance that liberals have taken for years is that it is more important to take care of people than it is to balance the budget. While I completely agree with that, I also believe that the best way to take care of people in the long term is to balance the budget so that the country is stable enough to enact real changes. It's the difference between short term and long term policies.