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Are There More Liberals or More Conservatives on DP?

Are There More Liberals or More Conservatives on DP?


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Some libertarian views are more extreme than even conservative ones. I was listening to an interview the other day with a libertarian party official from (Florida?) who said each state should have its own monetary system. I wouldn't call them grey. More like pink or something.

Imo, this would be like the Rush Limbaugh or Michael Moore part of the party. As reduction of federal government is a key tenant of libertarian ideology, you will see some people who focus on that and want to take it further.
 
Wow, you're not paying any attention to the results are you? Look who's voting to say there are more conservatives.

Someone didnt catch on to the hyperbole
 
Imo, this would be like the Rush Limbaugh or Michael Moore part of the party. As reduction of federal government is a key tenant of libertarian ideology, you will see some people who focus on that and want to take it further.
There is definitely a wide spectrum for every ideology. I am only contesting that the Libertarian ideology spectrum falls in the moderate region between the other two. Some Libertarians may indeed populate that area, but I think that is probably more a "corner" of the spectrum.

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For example, extremism on the chart above would be at points 100 and 0.
 
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Libertarianism is liberal when it (typically) comes to social issues. Libertarianism is conservative when it comes to the size and role of government and government spending. However, the Libertarian philosophy derives its conclusions and beliefs from different values and core beliefs than liberalism and conservatism.
 
There is definitely a wide spectrum for every ideology. I am only contesting that the Libertarian ideology spectrum falls in the moderate region between the other two. Some Libertarians may indeed populate that area, but I think that is probably the "left" end of the spectrum.

I think the problem here is that parties are generally being seen as falling on a line of right or left. It should be more 2 dimensional to demonstrate values as separate from size of government. Libertarians get placed right wing more often because we prefer less government, but how do you represent the fact that, in general, we support SSM, social programs, etc? It seems as if you are just pulled back and forth on the line, but they are really separate issues.
 
I think the problem here is that parties are generally being seen as falling on a line of right or left. It should be more 2 dimensional to demonstrate values as separate from size of government. Libertarians get placed right wing more often because we prefer less government, but how do you represent the fact that, in general, we support SSM, social programs, etc? It seems as if you are just pulled back and forth on the line, but they are really separate issues.
You are right, see the edited post above. :)
 
There is definitely a wide spectrum for every ideology. I am only contesting that the Libertarian ideology spectrum falls in the moderate region between the other two. Some Libertarians may indeed populate that area, but I think that is probably more a "corner" of the spectrum.

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For example, extremism on the chart above would be at points 100 and 0.

Really? I mean really? I go through pointing out my thoughts on your post and while I'm at it, you go and edit to post a chart showing exactly what I was describing. That's just cheating :p
 
Really? I mean really? I go through pointing out my thoughts on your post and while I'm at it, you go and edit to post a chart showing exactly what I was describing. That's just cheating :p
Haha, is this not a classic political strategy, to take someone else's idea and pretend you came up with it first?
 
Haha, is this not a classic political strategy, to take someone else's idea and pretend you came up with it first?

Absolutely. Just so you know, I was the designer of that strategy!
 
However, the statistics show they are the fastest growing. Check wiki or the party website or just about anywhere. They don't have to be powerful to be on the rise.



This is a large generalization based on ignorance and prejudice. It might even be projection considering how much time I see you on here screaming partisan views in many "battles".

I know many libertarians who are successful sales people, business persons, and are incredibly popular in social circles. We are not some right wing fringe group. In fact, many of us believe in some social programs and certain left wing ideologies.

First, if you look at the last five presidential elections and look at the libertarian party candidate, there is no growth there to speak of. So I have no idea how you are measuring this "fastest growing" allegation. While this article copycats that claim, it also fails to document it unless you are counting memberships which means nothing in terms of actual political power.

Libertarian Party (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cannot even get one-half of one percent in the vote for President. No US Senators elected. No US Representatives elected. One out of over 5,400 state legislative officials elected.

Yup, that is a fast growing success story anyway you cut it. :roll:

Second, I see no evidence at all that libertarians are doing anything to actually do the basic grunt work to build a party. What are most of them involved with today? Whose campaign are they working in? And where will that go and what will that get them?

They have no concept at all of goals and objectives and how to achieve them. And in politics, that is the kiss of death in terms of electoral success.
 
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There are way more Conservatives. Everyday, there are more and more people that are embarrassed to call themselves Liberals.
 
First, if you look at the last five presidential elections and look at the libertarian party candidate, there is no growth there to speak of. So I have no idea how you are measuring this "fastest growing" allegation. While this article copycats that claim, it also fails to document it unless you are counting memberships which means nothing in terms of actual political power.

Libertarian Party (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cannot even get one-half of one percent in the vote for President. No US Senators elected. No US Representatives elected. One out of over 5,400 state legislative officials elected.

Yup, that is a fast growing success story anyway you cut it. :roll:

Second, I see no evidence at all that libertarians are doing anything to actually do the basic grunt work to build a party. What are most of them involved with today? Whose campaign are they working in? And where will that go and what will that get them?

They have no concept at all of goals and objectives and how to achieve them. And in politics, that is the kiss of death in terms of electoral success.

Actually, because of the insane practice we describe as the electoral college, there is no point in voting third party, so we are forced to choose the lesser of evils in a presidential. I wouldn't expect huge transition until something is done to change that system which allows for only two parties. However, as membership grows, so do votes in congressional races.

And membership gains, btw, is how you measure that a party is growing. Not sure if you understand that a party gets larger as more people join it.

As for the structure, it's a work in progress. Membership increases are a part of it. Mailing lists are established. Campaigns are being run for congressional slots. On a state level, there is growing support, as well. I don't really feel like going for the list, but I get enough notifications of practices to feel confident that things are improving on a better pace than I would expect.

Truth is, though, I still love this blind hate of the party. It just means we have had enough of an impact to upset ya :) Thanks for giving us credit.
 
Notice I said "most". I am sure some true libertarians swing both ways, but on this board, most libertarians are just conservatives that don't want the tag. I am not aware of your politics in general, but - again, in reality - notice which party libertarian candidate Ron Paul is running under.

Yes, but also notice that on foreign policy (and in our historical tradition, foreign policy has routinely been dominated by the presidency and is the most important role of the president), Paul is running TO THE LEFT of Obama (something his adversaries will not hesitate to pounce on). He is also very much to the left of Obama on the war on terror in general, privacy, civil liberties, drug policy, and many other domestic social issues.
 
Yes, I know, there are more political leans than just conservative/liberal, but I know some have an opinion on this specific question. I'm conducting an experiment. Does it seem to you that there are more liberals (and/or liberal posts) or more conservatives (and/or conservative posts) or is it about equal?

Poll to follow.
If you're not conservative, then you're liberal, for the most part. So yeah, there are more liberals on this site.
 
Actually, because of the insane practice we describe as the electoral college, there is no point in voting third party, so we are forced to choose the lesser of evils in a presidential. I wouldn't expect huge transition until something is done to change that system which allows for only two parties. However, as membership grows, so do votes in congressional races.

And membership gains, btw, is how you measure that a party is growing. Not sure if you understand that a party gets larger as more people join it.

As for the structure, it's a work in progress. Membership increases are a part of it. Mailing lists are established. Campaigns are being run for congressional slots. On a state level, there is growing support, as well. I don't really feel like going for the list, but I get enough notifications of practices to feel confident that things are improving on a better pace than I would expect.

Truth is, though, I still love this blind hate of the party. It just means we have had enough of an impact to upset ya :) Thanks for giving us credit.

Give you credit for what exactly? You accomplish and do nothing because you have no power to do anything. Politics is about power and the libertarian party has none. They are merely a pimple on the ass of the body politic.
 
Its fairly even. Its better that way. Just think how boring this place would be if it where all Liberal or all conservative.
 
There may be a balance in members, but in my opinion, the moderators are all liberal. They are always jumping on a conservative, but let quite a bit of baiting slide for liberals. Myself I never report anyone for anything...that's for second graders...you know "ah teacher, Johnny called me a name".

Not really. and I find the liberal moderators to be more reasonable. The infractions I have disputed almost always have come from conservative moderators, not the liberal ones
 
Give you credit for what exactly? You accomplish and do nothing because you have no power to do anything. Politics is about power and the libertarian party has none. They are merely a pimple on the ass of the body politic.

No ... really .. stop ... you're too kind :)
 
I voted for more conservatives here than liberals.

The one thing I know is absolute fact is that the percentage of people who claim they are libertarians is way way way out of proportion to the American populace. For some reason, right wing libertarians have decided that internet message boards are the battleground for the hearts and minds of the next generation.

We also have more socialists, communists, anarchists, and fascists than you see in the general populations. And the answer is simple. If you follow one of the non-mainstream political ideologies, you have an interest in politics. You're far more likely to seek out a board like this than a typical apolitical member of the population.
 
Socially I'm very liberal. Marriage abortion all that stuff.

other than that I'm a pragmatist.
 
We also have more socialists, communists, anarchists, and fascists than you see in the general populations. And the answer is simple. If you follow one of the non-mainstream political ideologies, you have an interest in politics. You're far more likely to seek out a board like this than a typical apolitical member of the population.
All of the exclusively religious, socialists, communists, anarchists, or fascists sites are echo chambers that ban members for having non-collective opinions. Which is why I like it here.
 
All of the exclusively religious, socialists, communists, anarchists, or fascists sites are echo chambers that ban members for having non-collective opinions. Which is why I like it here.

I've been banned from freep ;)
 
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