general Liberal or Conservative?

[Props Valroa 26,046]

I didn't describe my views as in depth as I wanted to in my last post. I have more time to do so now.

In the past I was a lot more Nationalist in my outlook, in the recent years that has changed. I find that the recent years have proven the failure of American-style Democracy. Knowing, and understanding the failures of my own country has lead me to adopt the mindset that this country cannot be trusted in foreign or domestic policy. For me to have any level of trust in this government again, that would requite a fundamental reshaping of the country's politics and mindset. 

I have become increasingly sympathetic towards the ideas of Anarchism, though I believe government should have some role in promoting what I consider to be common decency. Ideally I would prefer if people voluntary associate with people most similar to themselves rather than attempt to force diversity or their interests onto other people who do not wish it. It is up for the people themselves to decide who they wish to associate with, not government. 

I also hold many views that others would consider to be very Right Wing, though I am ardently against organized religion and religious matters. I am very Right-Wing economically, and wish that government would interfere with the economy as little as possible. As opposed to the Republican Party, I support US departure from NATO and ending of American involvement in most foreign affairs. The United States should reel back it's military budget quite a bit to pay for more important things such as infrastructure and healthcare. I wish that such things could be handled by highly talented private individuals who are capable of keeping to their promises instead of government. The large corporations in the United States should be separated from Government interests, and be subject to break up to allow for more competition. 

The ideal for me would be no Government at all. Pure Anarchy and voluntary association, though as this is not possible I would focus in pursuing the notion of the United States becoming a de-centralized confederation of nations. There are some things I would support national mandates and national policy for, though I won't go into the details on that. I am strongly against American involvement in any foreign wars. Americans should never die for Europeans ever again. We must make peace with the powers of the world to not only ensure our own survival, but the survival of humanity itself. 

Another major important outlook in my beliefs is the desire to limit taxation as much as possible, if not abolish it completely. I didn't consent to having my wealth that was earned through my own labor being given to someone else. 

Both Liberals and Conservatives do not have an understanding of geopolitics because either side seeks to advance their own agenda rather than pursuing truth. I would prefer to be governed by people who do not have any other allegiance other than the pursuit of truth. 

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,705]

On 2019-03-07 at 11:48 PM, Luna the Great of all the Russias said:

I am confused by the definition of Liberal and Conservative as it is often used; it seems that the term Liberal is often used in place of Socialist (I suppose ultimately valuing equality over freedom) and ironically is more authoritarian in nature, and Conservative... its definition is not obvious to me.

I think Classical Liberal is the best description of my political leaning. I have immense distrust of government and, for the most part, I see no legitimate role for it to have other than protecting property rights, enforcing law, and defending the country. Any role beyond those three should be handled by the market. The problem with government getting involved in regulating something is that it tends to become counterproductive and encroach onto other matters outside its original purpose, its bureaucracy has little to no incentive to better itself (a dissatisfied individual cannot simply refuse to purchase the service nor vote them out), and they are difficult to kill; at least there is a chance for you to refuse service to a private monopoly whereas you must pay your taxes even if you vehemently oppose a given government function. Any government attempt to control the economy benefits special interests and makes everyone else worse off (antitrust laws help maintain monopolies and oligopolies, minimum wage increasing unemployment rate, rent controls making living expenses more costly, etc). In the free market, however, everyone must engage in mutually beneficial transactions. In short, government not touching the economy.

I have been thinking about the idea that permanently maintaining a minimal state as I described would be well worth sacrificing suffrage; democratic political incentives tend to be based on a far shorter time span compared to that of the economy so politicians are more tempted to cave to special interest groups for votes rather than actually improving the economy in the long run. However, I doubt there is a way to actually create such a state or to maintain it without being corrupted somehow; I find myself agreeing with the saying that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.

Since the time I made this post, I have become, in a sense, a "pure Liberal" -- i.e. Anarchist of the Capitalist variety; my view of the state degraded to such an extent that I see it as an inherently parasitic entity that tends towards encroaching on everything while degrading the quality of everything it consumes. Though it is valid to argue that a sort of Anarchist world order is a utopian vision, my general inclination is that greater political decentralization is better for all as it forces states to compete against one another; anarchy is the opposite of monopoly. In short, on this matter, I have gone towards the logical conclusion of the views I held four years ago.

l suppose I would also consider myself Conservative... except what is considered Conservative often strike me as being too Progressive, so I may consider Reactionary as more fitting. In short, the puritanical social order that takes seriously some notion of the transcendent is likely to survive longer than the libertine social order that disregards the notion of the transcendent.

However, those who disagree with the values of their social order should be allowed to leave to join another social order more compatible with their values.

Edited July 29, 2023 by Luna the Great of all the Russias

[Steve Piranha 28,782]

Neither, I’m neutral, but that’s enough for some to consider me an alt-right Nazi 

[daviddaviddavid 772]

I'd identify as libertarian before I'd identify as liberal or conservative. I think the government should be as small as possible and things should be, wherever possible, regulated at a local level by elected officials from within communities. There's probably a bit of overlap with both what people take "liberal" and "conservative" to mean in common parlance there - if you'd force me to pick one of the aforementioned then the truth is that it'd probably come largely down to the candidate.

[Reiki Knight 13 1,459]

Political party wise I am libertarian but if you put political party nonsense away and focused on conservative VS liberal in terms of would you prefer to keep things as they are (conservative) or change it to something else (radical liberalism) I would probably seem far more of a liberal viewpoint than a conservative.

 

 

[Twilight Sparkle97 395]

Conservative obviously. I would lean toward liberals since they come up with new ideas, but every idea is always controversial and lies spread to the American People.

But not all liberals are liars and not all conservatives are Christians. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Twilight Sparkle97

[Impulse 471]

I'm conservative!

Who else?

 

 

[zerox 1,050]

I'm from Europe and I consider myself as being centrist. I'm a bit left leaning centrist but I still consider myself as primary being centrist.

I really dislike far right and far left politics.

[CocoCody 476]

I consider myself a centrist Politically although aside from speaking to people about their political identities and being surrounded by it in my life, I don't tend to be involved on a level beyond that. I am putting less stock in personal identity and more faith in awareness and consciousness.

[Clawdeen 12,110]

I hate the government, government officials and all government parties equally. Politically wise at this point I lean more towards anarchy. Personal views of mine are more left. My ideal would be no government but we’d probably have to at least have something small. 

[Dreambiscuit 8,024]

EXTREME conservative. I make other extreme conservatives look like liberals. 

[Kosmodakrigan 36]

Transhumanist.

Which is neither left nor right. It is about getting over the current constraints of your bodies and minds and this planet.

[ComanderZhabikKlavik 935]

Far-left. Anarcho-Communist.

 

[nl4real 13]

Probably some variant of left anarchist as well.

[Shiny Silvermoon 2,994]

Green Party was the right answer! 

[Reiki Knight 13 1,459]

Here are my results.. I am a moderate conservative.

[EpicEnergy 22,086]

So this hasn't been locked even though ponies have been responding to it the past week? I guess it's not too political but it has the potential still... 

Either way I will give my political association! I'm currently apolitical.  I have enough stress from life as it is, I don't need more stress from political stuff.

[Spark Thunderbass 1,398]

I don’t really pay attention to politics all that much, as I find it to be a whole lot of bullshit, especially considering the fact that I’m very anti-woke, which I believe that’s what most politics is built around in my opinion. I don’t particularly enjoy having to go to voting booths just to vote for somebody that I just don’t care about, as far as I’m concerned, I’m just living and enjoying life to the fullest, not having to pay attention to things like climate change, end racism, and whatever woke agendas come round in the media, it’s just flat out not important to me.