Well, LKH, that is not in in keeping with any definition Ihave ever heard of the word "liberal", which as you probably know derives from the word "liber", and implies a respect for the freedom of others.

The problem is that your use of the word seems to have been infected witht he plague of political redefinition as launched by Coulter, Limbaugh and Hannity. The word has no such meaning.

Let me pose the question another way. Is it a valid tenet of Conservative philosophy that misery is always and solely the result of ineptitude on the part of the miserable? What are the conservative guidelines for compassion toward people who are in misery because they are poor, hungry, homeless, wounded in war, or otherwise squashed by their encounters with the world? Is there something besides blame or "personal responsibility" to offer?

How does the Conservative Manifesto guide you in regard to extreme imbalances in economic profiles such as presently occurs in our economy?

ANd a related question -- is ruthlessness in pursuit of profit an enlightened precept? And if so, is absolute ruthelssness in pursuit of unlimited profit moreso?

ANother face of the same question: is "the whole and only purpose of busienss is to make money" actually a true statement (regardless of its popularity as an MBA mantra), or does it need a qualifier with respect to the quality of what business does to make money? (Another way to ask this is whether there are any other "goodness" indexes for business besides profits for one month, or one quarter).

THese are all underlying mysteries in my mind with respect to how the conservative philosophy (if there is one thing that coudl be called that) actually goes.


A