Posts Tagged ‘Liberalism’

Capital Building

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks everyone for joining in for Part III of this topic.  Hopefully the our readers (current, old and new) have picked up some interesting information and are definitely using the information provided to make informed decisions today, as well as in the future.  This topic was left off yesterday at why we should be very vigilant regarding Big/Large Government and this entry will address some of those items.

For the “Big Government” statement, you should ask some of your neighbors here (United States) about tying in religion with government.  If my last post did not catch you, again, let’s take a look at today’s countries where religion and government are one, mainly where Sharia Law is ever present (Saudi Arabia).  Now I know people are going to argue that their religion is different, or they will argue that it isn’t supposed to be like that.  Such comments are to be dismissed; as long as one person is part of that “gang” and the tribalism is running full steam, they will not object to anything that falls in line with their belief system.

Any form of “Big Government” is very dangerous to people who promote individuals freedom (like myself).  Regardless if the influence of “Big Government” stems from secular or religious means, the end result is that a group of individuals is going to be persecuted.  History has proven it over the thousands of years of civilization and the amount of literature we have available.  You can’t guarantee the protection of a country’s citizens as long as there are “Big Government” influences running around.  Hence why corporate lobbying, wanting to bring religion as part of public life, false security (I’m looking at your DHS) should be frowned upon, and fought against.

Likewise, with the “Large Government” perspective, you have the arguments of public services versus private services.  The main item of concern more than anything is the costs for such items and the employment and middle management issues you will find (the same issues you will find with any private corporation).  To maintain such items is going to cost money, and we’ve seen countries with very high tax rates compared to our country (like Denmark, for a good example).  It becomes a citizen’s choice and action (voting, leaving, et. al.) to work within such a system, reform such system, or even change it.

I’ll be one of the first to tell you that there is a lot of waste in the government system (that may shock some people because of my moniker, but rest assured, the ones you call “Liberals” are not liberals to begin with); there are quite a few paper pushers as well as middle management and of course, excess waste that can be trimmed while still enjoying some of the same services (if you are one of those that feel that certain items should remain public-controlled and not private-controlled).  I’ve been displeased at the way this country has been handling tax payer money for the past 40 years, as well as the voodoo economics that was sold on this country.

Every good citizen should pay attention to what is happening with our government everyday; and a proud citizen would fight against those who attempt to harm their freedoms.  More often than not, the ones who want Big Government (and to a lesser extent, a very Large Government, but no where in comparison to Big Government) is not the Government itself.  It is your neighbors; they are the ones you have to watch, because they’re willing to use legislation and votes to get their way, and to violate your way of life.

– “Classic Liberal”

The Pentagon

Image by mindfrieze via Flickr

This is a pretty popular topic as we hear this term quite often but no one can provide a valid definition of viewpoint.  That is to be expected though, as what you hear amongst your friends, the general media (not the liberal media rhetoric that is displayed constantly, that has been proven to be false in my first post about that), it is more to identify what exactly is “Big Government” and the common misnomer to, “Large Government.”

Here is exactly what the term “Big Government” actually means.  It is basically when the Government (regardless of level) legislates your daily life to the point where you are not free to do as you choose (as long as you’re not violating the freedom of others).  That is all; sorry for all the Austrian-school individuals and the Anarcho-Capitalists out there who only believe the world’s woes can be solved by money and Big Government affects that.  For that crowd, pick up some actual literature and information beyond the ramblings of those that live in their own fantasy world.

“Large Government” which we hear of occasionally is not the same as “Big Government.”  “Large Government” entails two key items:  a significant portion of the population working in some capacity for the government (directly, or indirectly); and the steady growth of government workers/agencies due to natural circumstances (mainly the increase of a country’s population).  There is a very key difference between the two, and clearing those items up is one of the first steps before we continue on with this topic.

Stay tuned, as tomorrow I will have Part II up as I go into details about this item and provide more information as how the two affect our daily lives.

– “Classic Liberal”

Grover Cleveland

Image by cliff1066™ via Flickr

Recently in the United States, we’ve managed to severely pervert certain words to have a definition no where remote close to its actual definition, or distort the meaning to something completely opposite as a scare tactic to the general populace.  Unfortunately for many of the citizen in here, they have fell for such tactics and associate such words/phrases with mean whatever their friends, the media, politicians and anyone else who wants to manipulate viewpoints.  Let’s examine some word associations and definitions, I am going to supply four words:

  • Liber
  • Liberalis
  • Liberty
  • Liberal
  • Libertarian

If we carefully examine the word structure, the last four on the list all share the same, exact root word, “liber.”  Liber of course, has a double origin.  It was the name of a Roman God, known as “The Free One” and also has origins in Latin, meaning “to free.”  Now let’s re-examine the list once again:

  • Liber
  • Liberalis
  • Liberty
  • Liberal
  • Libertarian

Common basic facts and civics will point out that all the words on the list all point to the same meaning.  A “liberal” in your proper definition sense is someone who advocates as much freedom as possible, with a very heavy emphasis on individual freedom.  This doctrine was established in the 18th century in Europe and then, the fledgling United States.  It is where we I have my handle as “Classic Liberal” as well; I strongly promote as much individual freedom as possible (this is where society consistent uses Government to legislate their way of life, resulting in Big Government).

Over recent times, the word liberal has been adjusted to mean completely the opposite of what it is.  I hate using the “No True Scotsman” argument as it is very weak; however since we have a lot of individuals who use the “true conservative” statement, we can use the “true liberal” statement.  A person who is an actual “Libertarian” will not support legislation at the state-level (we call those individuals anti-federalists).  Legislation of any personal/civil issues at any level of government is not endorsing freedom; that is where individuals like Ron Paul (a fake Libertarian) fail (let the States decide).

The term “Libertarian” was first used in the 19th century in France by a man whose economic ideas were more “collectivist” in nature.  His emphasis on the term and ideology (the gentleman’s name is Joseph DeJacque if you want to look it up, I’ll bring him up on a future post) was directly related to Classic Liberalism (defined earlier).

The second part of “Word Associations & Definitions” in a future post will cover more details about “liber” as well as how it relates to today’s politics (United States, Civics 101, Foreign Policy & World Viewpoints).

– “Classic Liberal”