Scubongo

China has more Dollars then they can spend. Saudis are wasting money on buying English football teams.

Will they start buying companies like AIG and Lehman in the coming days?

By the way it's going now, it looks like the US is on sale...

I asked a question here today about being liberal, but before I asked, I looked up liberalism online, and it was easy to find a description of it.

After reading the reactions and answers to that question, it seems that republicans really hate liberals and feel that the description of liberal I found was wrong. If those republicans would do some reading before answering, they would see it is not wrong and liberalism is what it is, with small differences, but fundamentally the same. Republicans seem to confuse a liberal with a socialist…

So I wanted to compare liberalism with republicanism but I can't seem to find a good description for republicanism…

What I did find was this;

Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, with an emphasis on liberty, rule of law, popular sovereignty and the civic virtue practiced by citizens. Republicanism always stands in opposition to any form of dictatorship or tyranny in the political realm. More broadly, it refers to a political system that protects liberty, especially by incorporating a rule of law that cannot be arbitrarily ignored by the government. As John Adams put it, “They define a republic to be a government of laws, and not of men.” Much of the literature deals with the issue of what sort of values and behavior by the citizens is necessary if the republic is to survive and flourish; the emphasis has been on widespread citizen participation, civic virtue, and opposition to corruption."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicanism

And on the Republican party page I found this as political ideology;

Historical;

Abolitionism

Classical liberalism

Progressivism

Social liberalism

Modern:

Conservatism

Fiscal conservatism

Social conservatism

Neoconservatism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(Uni...

(look in the right column)

So what I make of a republican now, is that they don't really exist, because a republic is not an ideology, but a way to govern a country. A republican doesn't really have core values like a socialist or liberal has, but at one point in time, republicans were actually liberals themselves…

So that’s why I ask this question;

What are the fundamental values of a republican?

But before you answer, do you really know what Liberal really means?

Has anyone ever looked it up?

I’m Belgian and an Obama supporter, so I follow the elections very closely. What I don’t understand is that it seems that in the US “liberal” is a dirty word. So that’s why I ask if you all know what liberal really means. You should look it up and then tell me if it’s such a bad thing to be liberal.

Let me get you started by pointing out you have a statue in New York that is called “The Statue of liberty”

Webster Dictinary;

Liberty; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin liberalis suitable for a freeman, generous, from liber free; perhaps akin to Old English lēodan to grow, Greek eleutheros free.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liberal

So what’s wrong with being free? The land of the free right?

Liberalism;

A; movement in modern Protestantism emphasizing intellectual liberty and the spiritual and ethical content of Christianity

B: a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard

C: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liberali...

Sounds like everything the republicans stand for…

Wikipedia;

Liberalism is a doctrine stressing individual freedom and limited government. This includes the importance of human rationality, individual property rights, natural rights, the protection of civil liberties, constitutional limitations of government, free markets, and individual freedom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism

Then read the Liberal International website;

Liberals are committed to build and safeguard free, fair and open societies, in which they seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one is enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. Liberalism champions the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals. Liberalism acknowledge and respect the right to freedom of conscience and the right of everyone to develop their talents to the full. Liberalism aims to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. The freedom to be creative and innovative can only be sustained by a market economy, but it must be a market that offers people real choices. This means that Liberals want neither a market where freedom is limited by monopolies or an economy disassociated from the interests of the poor and of the community as a whole. Liberals are optimistic at heart and trust the people while recognising the need to be always vigilant of those in power.

http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp...

And don’t forget to read the “Declaration of Brussels 1946” on that site. Yes it looks like liberalism was created in Belgium… :)

http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp...

So can anyone tell me what’s wrong with being liberal?

If global warming causes the oceans to warm, and therefore expand and rise, would it be possible that because of global warming the Earth's crust also warms and expands, and therefore causes more earthquakes?

If Sarah Palin believes in creationism, and God created the earth, why does she talk about "natural resources" and not "God's resources"?