Where do you fall? (poll)

[Javaman]

Poll question: Where do you fall? (poll)

[nonconformist]

1. I picked Progressive Dem

Generally though, if I'm asked to define myself politically, I would say I'm a Populist.

[mike_c]

2. I'm comfortable with the "ultra far left" part...

...but voted for the twilight zone because I'm only a democrat some of the time.

[YOY]

3. I've said it before I'll say it again

The "right leaning" Dems need to fix the party to the right instead of pulling us there.

[Javaman]

4. I'm honestly curious, how would that be done? nt

[YOY]

6. By the fiscal conservatives telling the religious nuts to f*** off.

By closing the floodgates that Saint Ronnie opened by stopping to cater to televangelists and using real fiscal conservatism (the kind that doesn't really care so much for social issues.)

One can dream, can't he?

[Javaman]

8. That would be a really nice start.

I'm not particularly thrilled with Clinton, but hell if she did that, she would have nothing but my full support.

[YOY]

12. Neither am I, bro...neither am I...

But her husband was at least an effective fiscal conservative with some slight left leaning social tendancies. At least that will be back.

Sad that she is seen as a "liberal" in the eyes of the dim so often...

Grumble...if it's what we get stuck with...grumble...dammit Al Gore RUN!

[Occam Bandage]

5. Ideology-wise, far-left. Tactics-wise, left-leaning.

[Selatius]

7. I'm a free market socialist.

I favor an economy that is mixed but that leans towards the left with elements of the free market and elements of socialism such as single-payer health care, tuition-free university, a relatively large co-op sector, etc., and I'm rather socially liberal as well favoring decriminalization of certain drugs.

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. What a coincidence. I'm a totalitarian-anarchist.

:)

[NightWatcher]

9. damn near an anarchist: ready to scrap the system and start all over

[Javaman]

18. Best quote I have read on DU ever...

I forget who the poster was but it went something like this...

"as a teen I was conservative. At middle age I was liberal. As an old man, I'm a bomb throwing anarchist."

[Mike03]

10. Please, what is the difference between left-leaning and progressive?

An honest question; I've never really understood this distinction, but I want to know.

I used to think of myself as socially liberal (far left liberal) but economically conservative, if being conservative means not pissing trillions away on illegal wars, and using that money istead for schools, education, domestic poverty, illness, etc...

So it's not even clear to me how to classify myself.

[RiverStone]

16. my question exactly... n/t

[Javaman]

19. ummm,errr, whoops. LOL

probably the same. sorry my bad.

[Selatius]

20. Allow me to clarify the original definition of progressive.

At the end of the 1800s and early 1900s, there were basically two poles in American politics: Progressives and Liberals.

Progressives of the era favored government intervention in the markets. They believed a person should only be as free to operate in the market as far as not violating the rights of others. They favored strong anti-trust laws to break up monopolies and punish robber barons and laws against unfair competition such as price-fixing, binding contracts, and interlocking directorates. You have the freedom to open a factory, but you shouldn't have the freedom to dump mercury into the river either.

Liberals of the era favored maximal individual freedom to do as one pleases as far as business is concerned. They felt that individual freedom should be protected and that the decision to, for instance, dump mercury should be left up to the individual relying on the faith that the free market will eventually remove the dumper.

In the 1930s FDR attempted to co-op the term "Liberal" in a bid to reach out to right wing voters who were both socially conservative and fiscally right wing. Since then the term "Liberal" has taken on a connotation basically synonymous with "Progressive." In many other countries throughout the world though, such as in Australia, "Liberal" holds a right wing connotation as far as economic issues go. As a result, you may inadvertently be insulting left wingers in other countries if you simply call them "liberals" where it still retains the original right wing connotation.

As far as fiscally conservative or fiscally liberal goes, I find the terms insufficient. Instead, I measure a person's stance on a sliding scale between pure capitalism and pure socialism. Few people are at such extreme poles, but many are in the gray area in between. Some, like me, simply lean close to the left pole.

[Mike03]

21. Thank you, that is enormously helpful.

Worth printing out, and considering.

ON EDIT: This is really helpful, and maybe the clearest explanation of the difference I've ever seen. Progressives would tend to favor regulation rather than deregulation, and Liberals might tend more towards Libertarian beliefs?

By the definition you have provided, I would consider myself a progressive, not a liberal, because I don't believe individual freedom should triumph other considerations at any cost. I don't trust or have faith in the morality of the free market.

[Mike03]

23. Just to double-check...

Doesn't being a progressive, then, require trust in one's government to set the right limitations in the first place?

What can you do if you are progressive but have no faith in your government to make the progressive decisions that are necessary to make in order to have a progressive government?

[Selatius]

26. You don't have to trust the government, per se, just the people you elected.

Therein lies the problem. People don't trust elected officials because they're seen as corrupt, yet many people aren't really educated enough to make informed choices, so they keep electing corrupt officials. The point is education is a problem in America. They'd rather talk about Britney Spears or the next missing person than relevant issues in the news.

[Kucinich4America]

11. I'd probably be considered an "ultra leftist" by the current distorted US political system

Probably only "slightly left" in most other countries.

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. Totally depends on who you ask.

If you ask me, I'd say progressive dem. The political spectrum tests indicate I'm politically aligned with Ghandi. "Left libertarian".

If you ask anyone who's discussed Joe Horn or men's issues with me, they'd disagree.

Labels are insufficient.

[PDJane]

14. I'm way to the left by American standards.......

progressive by European standards.

[unpossibles]

15. I am a leftist independent

who also supports Democratic politicians.

Part of me wants to register as a Democrat, but I honestly kind of like belonging to no party.

[RL3AO]

22. I choose right leaning dem.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. "Left-Libertarian" aka Anarchist.

"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."
Thomas Paine

[Forkboy]

25. Wherever I'm done drinking.

[Swamp Rat]

28. LOL!

:rofl:

[Swamp Rat]

27. Somewhere way past the Twilight Zone.

OUT there, baby! :D

[emilyg]

29. In my kitchen.