Thursday, June 11, 2009

Why I'm Not A Liberal

Weed is my favorite theoretical example for defining the differences between modern conservatives and modern liberals.

Conservatives says weed is bad therefore we must ban it. Liberals says weed is no worse than alcohol so we should legalize it - but then tax the bejeezus out of it.

I think you can see the parallels to my weed hypothetical and these comments by Dustin at UGA Liberal.
I must agree with them that, in this point of time in democracy, access to the information on the internet is vital to everyone. It should be a basic human right...That is not to say that it should not be regulated.
I hope this is a case of sarcasm not translating well over the internet, but I suspect it's not.

10 comments:

Grayson: Atlanta, GA said...

Oh gawd...

Piers Gaveston Jr said...

I was always amazed at "small government" conservatives that want to criminalize reefer. They almost never see the contradiction.

delicateflower said...

You know why I'm not an unaffiliated moderate? because they make overly broad generalizations about what liberals believe.

Tom said...

Maybe it's just me, but if it's a basic human right, then why in the hell should it be regulated? Of course, I personally have an issue with anyone regulating rights because it's only a matter of time before they regulate other rights...like breathing.

griftdrift said...

Delicateflower.

I'll stop using generalizations when liberals (and conservatives) stop making them true.

Amber Rhea said...

These blanket statements are really starting to stick in my craw. And as for your most recent comment, that's like saying you'll stop rehashing sexist/racist/homophobic/etc. stereotypes when members of [x] group stop fitting them.

e.g.,
"You're a woman who's a bad driver... SEE???"

"You're a man who's a bad driver... oh wait."

griftdrift said...

You mean like this?

'I’m sure in some hypothetical world my sweeping generalizations are grossly inaccurate. But, realistically? In the world I live in and with the men that I know and love and interact with on a daily basis?...You pretty much all do this shit at least some of the time.'

Amber Rhea said...

Oh, come on now. How many times have I been over this? When members of a marginalized group call out those with privilege... oh, fuck it. I've explained this fifty gazillion times already.

griftdrift said...

So Amber, a one way street is okay if it points the way you desire?

Lets review:

My headline - Why I'm Not A Liberal

Earlebecke's Headline - An Open Letter to Liberal Men

My Generalization - "Liberals says weed is no worse than alcohol so we should legalize it - but then tax the bejeezus out of it"

Earlebecke's Generalization - "I’m sure in some hypothetical world my sweeping generalizations are grossly inaccurate. But, realistically? In the world I live in and with the men that I know and love and interact with on a daily basis?...You pretty much all do this shit at least some of the time.

I try to avoid generalizations, but when discussing political philosophy, I find them unavoidable.

Political philosophy. Because unlike race, gender and sexual orientation, political philosophy is a conscience choice.

You were about a half step away from calling me a bigot and that's something I can't idly ignore.

Unknown said...

Of course we should legalize and tax weed. I thought libertarian-leaning people supported consumption-based taxation?