Part Two: What is a Liberal?

Okay so I found another site that talks about the principles of liberalism.

http://www.fnf.org.za/Publications/2_liberal_Facts/English.html

Liberalism, as the name implies, is the fundamental belief in a political ideal where individuals are free to pursue their own goals in their own ways provided they do not infringe on the equal liberty of others. It's a very basic principle and I think it's probably way too oversimplified. If that's true then every republican in this country is a liberal in disguise! Liberals tend to believe in 6 basic principles. Human rights Firstly, there is a commitment to fundamental human rights. Fundamental human rights, for example, are the right to human dignity, life, freedom from slavery, freedom of religion, freedom of belief, freedom of expression, freedom of association and so forth. Each of these human rights is debated to decide what its precise meaning is: the right to freedom from slavery is an absolute right that cannot be limited. Equality Of particular importance among the fundamental human rights is the right to equality. As with other fundamental rights, there is debate about what exactly equality means. All liberals will agree tha tequality means there can be no discrimination. In a court of law, for example, there can be no discrimination on the grounds of race (black or white) or gender (male or female) or religion (Christian or Muslim). There are still places where, for example, what a woman has to say in a court counts only half as much as what a man has to say. This is clearly unequal treatment. But does equality also mean that everyone must get the same salary or live in the same kind of house? Liberals will say 'no', but will demand that all people must have the same opportunities to improve their lives -therefore the emphasis on improving education for all. Liberals, in short, believe in equality before the law and equality of opportunity. Rule of law This commitment to fundamental human rights goes together with liberals' commitment to the rule of law. The rule of law is a set of safeguards against arbitrary and tyrannical treatment by the authorities. In a court, for example, the judge must be impartial and cannot be the same person as the prosecutor (in other words, he or she cannot be a player and the referee at the same time). Individual freedom The basis for these liberal beliefs is the importance liberals attach to the individual and his/her rights and responsibilities. Every single person is important. Liberals believe that people must decide for themselves and not be told what to do all the time. They must be free to lead the life they want to lead, provided that in doing so they do not limit someone else's freedom. In other words, your right to swing your arms freely stops where you start hitting someone. Private property and a free market Not quoting anything, you just have to read it. Liberal democracy Strictly speaking, democracy is not one of liberalism's core values, but adding them up, democracy becomes the only political system under which these values can really exist. To be more precise: liberals believe that it is liberal democracy, not a 'one-party democracy' and not a 'people's democracy' that is needed. It is not enough for a liberal democracy simply to have regular elections, if there is only one party to choose from, or if a majority votes a government into power that promises to kill all members of a certain group or class, or if not all citizens above a certain age are allowed to vote.

Okay a couple of problems as you can see. This is liberalism, but who in America DOESN'T believe in this? I think most conservatives will believe in everything here. So I think I'm being fooled for some reason because now I think I'm both a liberal AND a conservative.

Second problem is probably one that most conservatives would agree on. Liberalism has no fundamental basis. Every one of these principles can be debated and enhanced or reduced. There is no guiding light that says that this used to work, why not just stick with that? Why do we have to debate this?

Okay so I'm not convinced yet. I think I need to read on more about what it means to be a democrat or a republican.