The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #89973   Message #1702477
Posted By: artbrooks
25-Mar-06 - 08:21 AM
Thread Name: BS: More liberal bias in the news
Subject: RE: BS: More liberal bias in the news
Well, I guess I'm a liberal...I can and do think for myself without feeling a need to fit into somebody else's definition. Of course, all liberals are different and there is no liberal box. To compare myself to rarelamb's definition of a liberal:
    They want national healthcare: of course. Quality healthcare should be available to everyone, and people should pay for it on a graduating scale based upon their incomes.
    They want national pensions: of course. President Roosevelt gave us all that years ago when Social Security came in. Anyone who doesn't want to live on that minimal income should (and does) have the right to save an additional amount themselves.
    They want nationally set wages: I disagree. There needs to be a minimum wage, set locally and based upon local prices and the local cost of living, that is adequate to maintain an "average sized" family at a decent standard. Most wages should be set based on the invisible hand of the market economy.
    They want nationally controlled land: I disagree...this is a dumb idea. Some land, such as parks (for only one example), should be owned by the government and used for the good of everyone. Limited natural resources should not be placed in private hands without proper compensation and some level of control over production. This is a tricky one.
    They want nationally controlled corporate profits: Another dumb idea, unless taxes on these profits is "control". As a liberal, what I don't want is national control by corporations.

BTW, true socialism (which has never been practiced in the entire world except on a very small scale on some Israeli communes and in Utopian communities in 19th century America) and true fascism (which was briefly in place in early Fascist Italy) are two very different economic and political philosophies. With direct reference to the quote from the Mises Foundation article, the Nazies began with a philosophy of state control of production and distribution...appropriate to their name of National Socialist Workers' Party. They never did meet the Italian definition of Fascist which, since they invented modern Fascism, must be assumed to be the best one.