Conservative or Liberal?

Agnostic. If policy is logical and good for the long-term health of the country as a whole, I'm on board. If it throws the majority under the bus for the good a few, lacks basis in what I perceive to be reality, or generally plays into the sad sporting arena that we currently term "politics", expect it to put me in a foul mood. I don't think that the categories of things that I support or detest come close to fitting under the "liberal" or "conservative" labels.

 

Leftist Socialist Treehugger. Voted for Nader last three elections--used to vote Green, but they have moved to far to the right.

 

In the early days of Prius Chat, the great majority of members were real tree-huggers, including me. Mainstream America did not trust the Prius. They considered it too new and untested even though it had already been on the roads for 5 or 6 years in Japan and 3 or 4 years in the states in a different body style and very slightly different innards.

In those days, most Prius Chat members were liberals as well. I was probably to the left of most of those liberals.

Politically I am a leftist: I believe that basic human rights include the right to have a job with dignified working conditions and wages, and I believe that without stringent oversight and controls, Big Business will act in a manner to enrich itself and screw the citizenry. Like the fellow whose birthday we observe today, I oppose all violence, both individual and societal. I consider both parties to be corrupt. I have voted for Democrats, Republicans, Socialists, Communists, independents, and protest candidates, in each case based on the individuals involved.

In my private life I am very conservative: I don't drink, I almost never go out at night, I don't like bars or parties, and I invest my money conservatively.

Nowadays, based on the discussions in FHOPol, it looks as though the Prius is accepted generally as a reliable car that gets good gas mileage, and no longer can be used to gauge the politics of the driver.

 

I can be your token southern liberal. I am that one person in 1400 in Mississippi who drives a Prius. I bet a similar ratio applies to whites in MS who voted for Barrack Obama. I walked from Mexico to Canada, so I am a tree hugger. I am an agnostic in the bible belt. Would that qualify me as liberal in California? No, but then they don't break out the white sheets when they find liberals in CA.

(Worse I am friends with folks who drive a Mini and a Smart. Per capita Smart ownership in MS has got to be near 1 in a million)

 

My politics: first vote was for Ronald Reagan....nailed him down to the point I did not have to start every sentence with "Well...." Now I KNOW I'm getting old: as many of his supporters have been reclassified from arch-conservative to RINOs by the current GOP, still praise him while practicing politics with uncivility and a scorched earth approach that must have him turning in his grave.

 

I'm among the many independent swing voters who dislike both major parties, picking and choosing some viewpoints from various factions of each in combinations that displease the leaders of both. My affiliation tend towards contrarian -- originally a Democrat in a region ruled by conservatives, then leaving that party in disgust after moving to a region ruled by liberals.

I did not consider the Prius during its early years, partly because of its very liberal connotations, partly for its short unproven history, but mostly because I wasn't in the market. But Prius went mainstream here, and proved its reliability, long before the old Honda was ready for retirement.

For specifics, I'm a partial AGW believer (ignore mass media and political activists, pay more attention to technical sources) who strongly dislikes having our oil addiction transferring much of our national wealth to enemies who wish to own us. Also an atheist NRA member who doesn't dare post the decal on the car so as not to incite the local banners to vandalism.

Around here, we don't have Texas oil barons or UAW leaders, and nearly all other persuasions are driving Priuses.

 

The 70's oil embargos had me concerned about what is now called Peak Oil.

Addressing Peak Oil, smog, wilderness destruction that endangers lions, tigers, pandas, etc makes AGW moot - address the above items and the CO2 emissions will be controled

 

I don't mean to stereotype or insult, but just wondered if most conservatives categorize people into narrow political categories? I have heard this often, but did not want to jump to any conclusions.

 

If I decide that I want to burn down my house, and if I'm not doing it to collect insurance fraudulently, do I have the right to do so? What about my neighbor who will have to breathe the smoke, or the risk of setting the neighborhood on fire? If I own 51% of a company, do I have the right to sell the entire company to myself for a dollar? If I buy a block downtown, do I have the right to tear down the houses and put in a hog feedlot?

There are numerous limitations that society places on what you can do with your property. We have zoning laws, and we have eminent domain, which gives the government the right to take any property and pay its owner "fair market value" for it.

Environmental and genetic diversity is critically important to the health of the ecosystem, and even though the opponents of species conservation make it sound silly, it is far more important than some of the reasons we give for depriving people of their property.

Property rights are (or should be) far less compelling than human rights and preservation of the environment. -- Of course, its rather funny when a country that obtained most of its land through theft speaks of the sanctity of property rights.

In fact, the only bit of land the U.S. didn't steal was Manhattan Island, which we bought with counterfeit money (junk jewelry). We bought the Louisiana territory and Alaska, but not from the people who lived there, so both were the same as buying a stolen car.

 

I consider myself a moderate, somewhere between Rachel Maddow and Michael Moore.

 

Thank you for your response. I think politics is always an emotionally charged topic, with each of us feeling so strongly about being right and true in our beliefs. I consider myself to be more down the middle most of the time and really dislike the current divisiveness between the two parties. - and here I thought, all Texans were Republicans )

 

I'm a bit suspicious of labels. Human beings tend to be generalization machines, force-fitting new things into our existing understanding by labeling them. I'm not so sure that's a productive process.

 

I used to think of myself as relatively liberal. Then one of my most conservative friends set me straight after I told him that if anybody touched my child inappropriately, I'd kill him ("him" being the toucher, not the child - damn English language!)

So clearly, I'm "conservative" - though I'm still quite confused. I'm Liberly because I want to save the whales, conservative because I want to kill the pedophiles. Help!

 

I'm a registered libertarian.
I'd love to see the Fed cut in half, states rights returned to the states and the legalization of least soft drugs, especially for medical usage at the state level. That being said, I pay my honest taxes (fed and state), voted for cannidates that supported SB1070 here in Arizona (Az's immigration bill), and quit using hemp when I left Amsterdam in '98.

On another note, I find it simply amazing how much work the 'lame duck' session has produced. Is there a lesson there? Seems to me, from how much got done when Senators and Congressmen see an end to their term, that they should be limited just like the President, to two terms. They could run again after a term off, but could only serve 2 consecutive terms at a time.

 

Conservative Democrat since I was old enough to register to vote...

I don't vote Party lines, and I haven't voted for a Democrat for POTUS since the first time JCarter ran for office.

 

I do not fit the available classifications. I do my best to think of the short and long term impact of legislation and how our issues impact not only the people, but also how they fit with the promises (not entitlements) of our constitution.

 

Anybody who thinks ALL Texans are Republicans needs to read Molly Ivins. But I still advocate giving Texas back to Mexico. (I don't oppose giving the rest of the southwest back, I just don't make an issue out of it.)

Whatever for? Hemp is an excellent and environmentally friendly fiber, not to be confused with its similar looking but very different cousin, marijuana.