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After posting here for over 4 years I see a lot of topics that keep coming up that induce flame wars, so I sat down and thought about my own positions on things and it got me to wondering if I was considered a liberal or not by the standards of others.
1. GLBT/Racism/Sexism/Etc.
I am in favor of gays being allowed to marry and enjoy the same rights as others. I feel that women should make the same as men, and I feel that racism in this country has handicapped those not white and male and that we need to keep adjustments in place until everyone is truly equal. I think as time goes on I see it less as racism and more as a class war, but even then a poor white guy has a leg up on a poor black/indian/gay/etc in many areas of the country. I also think there is such a thing as reverse discrimination and we should strive for equality of all no matter where the person is (to wit: in some parts of Columbus, Ohio, where I live a white guy would have a harder time getting a job at a small business than someone of color, and that is not right either IMHO).
2. Choices in your own life
From abortion to smoking to wearing a seat belt to...whatever, people have a choice in whom they associate with and what they do with their own bodies. You want to work where a business owner allows smoking, fine. If you want to work in a pharmacy where they dispense the morning after pill, fine. If you want to go to a food joint that uses trans fat versus one that does not, ok with me. You have choices in life, and limiting those choices limits your own personal freedom and that of others.
If you don't like something you should have a choice of opting out, if you like something that others don't you should have the right to congregate with those that do like the things you do. Whether that be on a personal level or business level it does not matter.
3. Guns
I used to work in the reloading industry and met many people across the globe who enjoyed guns and shooting for sport and fun (from South Africa to Australia to Italy to England, etc). Most people do not use guns for crime. I am all for sensible gun laws, but I think that thinking that most people will use guns to hurt you is a little off. If you live in an area where that is a problem and you want to make new laws regarding that, that is one thing. But thinking that a country of 300 million people spread across a vast area all need the same rules and laws is a little silly to me. A band aid for your issues may well be a wheel chair elsewhere.
I know many gun owners (I am not one currently) and none of them have ever done anything negative with them. Should they be punished for what others have done? There are already laws to punish people for robbery, murder, holding up banks, etc and so on - and such laws have not stopped the truly warped from doing such things. Home made bombs, guns, etc and so on will always be used by criminals no matter how many restrictions you place on such things. When did we let the minority dictate to the majority on these issues? MOST car owners don't run over people, but a good friend of mine three doors down killed a man (intentionally) who had killed his brother. He used his car to run him over.
Most gun owners don't use their guns to hurt others, but some do - should we punish all because of the few?
4. Health Care
I don't care how much I have to pay in income taxes or consumption taxes, I want to make sure everyone can get all the care they need. The war on terror (hell, all wars we have fought one might argue) are waged to protect us from being killed by others. More people die each year from poor health care (and the ability to get health care at all) than anything else. Stop spending money on wars and spend it on things which are really killing us, like not being able to afford our meds and treatment.
Overall
Your body, your choice. From assisted suicide to abortion to going to a bar where people smoke to owning a gun to wearing a seat belt to wearing a helmet on a motorcycle. From using condoms, to cheating on a spouse, marriage, etc and so on - YOU should have the right to make choices in your life, and so should others.
When you limit more and more the choices of others based on your own ideals and beliefs I see that as not liberal but as RW or even, at times, far left wing.
Fear sells and gets people to ban things or over regulate them. Whether it be based on religion or personal preference or experience.
Stay out of my life and my choices, remember that choice is something sacred - from having kids to not having them, from associating with like minded people who own guns or smoke, from drinking to eating meat, wearing seat belts to whatever.
Leave me and mine alone to make our own choices. My body, my choice. You don't have to own a gun, smoke, have abortions, limit how many kids you have, breastfeed, be a vegetarian, be a meat eater, etc and so on.
We are a melting pot of people and ideals. A big tent with one resounding theme - freedom to be yourself and make choices in your own life.
I may not like your choice, but I damn well like the ability you have to make that choice.
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