So we equate liberalism with neo-commies? What exactly do neo-commies believe in? If you say they want to control our lives, I would say that right now it is pretty heavily controlled and Bush cannot be considered a liberal.

I think he means economically, but yea I agree bush is really not a "personal rights" loving, kind of dude.

well damn got near the bottom before pman post actually answered the question.
republican nervana= government just small enough to fit in your bedroom
democratic nervana= government big enough to "fix" anything
libertarians nervana= govenrment small enough to ignore

Liberalism is predicated on the principle that there is some inherent natural tension between the twin democratic values of liberty and equality.

Libertarians generally refuse to recognize that tension and usually refuse to comprimise any principle of liberty in the name of equality. Libertarians essentially deny the value of equality.

Another way of looking at it would be to say that libertarians predicate their liberty upon liberty for capitalism (with liberty for individuals being a product of that). Liberals generally prefer to predicate their liberty on individualism, civil rights and equality for all.

(I am an ex-libertarian. I am now a proud classical liberal).

What the hell is everyone talking about? "Liberal" is a political lean, "Libertarian" is a party, like Republican or Democrat. And Libertarians do not support government in the least! We want tiny government; and radical Libertarians are anarchists! That's why most of us are Conservative and support the Republicans.

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Libertarians generally apply "freedom" to everything social and economic. Some of their greatest thinkers, such as Ayn Rand, believed Laissez-Faire capitalism was the only way to achieve freedom. Socially, Libertarians believe what you do is your own business, and not the governments.

Liberals and Libertarians agree on the issues socially, but economically, liberals want more control to achieve equality. We believe in taxing to benefit for the common good, and control on capitalism.

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WELL AMERICANS, WHAT?
NOTHIN BETTER TO DO?
WHY DON'T YOU KICK YOURSELF OUT?
YOU'RE AN IMMIGRANT TOO.

nicely worded Guernicaa and kudos on the avatar the white stripes rock!!

For your information, Australia and Canada (for example) have a Liberal Party that is one of the largest and most dominant political parties in their respective countries. The Liberal Party was also a very large part of British political history.

And the Liberal Party in Australia is notably a 'right-of-center' party while the Liberal Party in Canada is a notably 'left-of-center' party.

As for the US Libertarian Party, many ideologically inclined libertarians have a heart attack reading the platform of that party (it is obnoxious to actual liberty). I don't know what ideology to call it, but the bottom line is that the US Libertarian Party stands for liberty for capital. It does not stand on principle for liberty for actual people. People are only granted liberty under the US Libertarian Party insofar that it is necessary to support liberty for capital.

Liberty for people must never be considered a means to an end. It is an end in itself.

Liberty for capital is only acceptable insofar as it may support liberty for individuals.

There are significant differences between "liberal" and "libertarian." Most notably, liberalism tends to push for the big government nanny state where the government has have more power over people's lives to basically take care of the citizenry from cradle to grave. Libertarian, on the other hand, is a political philosophy of very limited government, particularly with regard to areas that touch on individual liberties.

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A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

It isn't such a hard distinction to make. Liberals believe in personal freedoms. They think the government should stay out of people's personal lives. They generally believe in more restriction of the free market.

Libertarians aren't so different--they believe in as little restriction of personal freedom and the free market as possible.

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"Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states...Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."



~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.