From the site:
The term liberal is one of the many words in the English language whose meaning has been utterly corrupted. It now means something entirely different to its original historical and philosophical meaning. Funnily enough, this has generally been the fault of those on the right who have wrongly used the word to attack those on the left for being soft or 'progressive'.In many respects this is a little like calling a cat a dog. To be a liberal basically means you believe in individual freedom. And that you accept the responsibilities that this entails. As is clear, this outlook is worlds apart from the collectivist ideologies of those on the left.
Via the feline enumerator at Counting Cats in Zanzibar.
Mick intones: I'm apparently quite illiberal. See the comments for the reasons why.
Comments (2)
I scored 40%. I am illiberal.
I'm not that surprised, because I just can't bring myself to give a yes or no answer to most questions. Wealth redistribution? I can't answer no because I think some sort of social safety net is necessary and any kind of social safety net is effectively wealth redistribution. A better question is should the government mandate it, or is it better handled through private charity?
Should the state bail out large corporations? Again, not a cut and dried issue for me. The process is at least as important to me as the question of whether it should be done at all.
Should the police retain DNA of convicted criminals past the end of their sentences? Yeah, I think they should.
Should the state ban violent pornography? Well, I'm not sure what that is exactly, but if I answer no, what am I saying about child pornography? What would my position be on sex slavery? No right is unlimited and I think the state sometimes has a role in protecting society from the worst excesses.
It it wrong to overthrow foreign dictators? Nope. Kill their asses and free their people. Again, its a matter of whether one believes people are legitimately chattel or not. I refuse to be one of those people who said that they opposed slavery, but didn't want to interfere with the slave master's property rights. I think Robert Mugabe should be overthrown.
Free market capitalism forced on other nations? How do you force free market capitalism on anyone? Its a ridiculous question. I'm going to force you to make a deal? To sell me our stuff at market price? Its no longer free market capitalism when force is involved.
Posted by Mick Stockinger | February 17, 2009 2:07 PM
Posted on February 17, 2009 14:07
You'd probably get a higher score if you answered the questions they asked.
The question about DNA wasn't about convicted criminals. It was about individuals who've never been convicted of a crime. So from there, you can extrapolate about criminals, but that wasn't the question.
Should their be a social safety net and if so who should provide it? A totally different question than "Can the government take your money for whatever reason it decides." If your answer isn't a resouding, "Hell no!" I'd like to know how much extra you give them in your taxes every year, out of the goodness of your heart.
And the porn question, whoa! Saying that two consenting adults ought to be at liberty to pursue any sex activity they choose, even if that activity would otherwise be considered assault, is pretty cut and dried. Child pornography is a whole other issue. So is sex slavery. Consent is primary. Children cannot reasonably consent. Slavery is the absence of consent.
See where I'm going here? How does that change your answers?
Posted by Sarah | February 18, 2009 7:44 AM
Posted on February 18, 2009 07:44