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A Non-Political Test To Find Out If You Are Liberal Or Conservative

Submitted by Jai Ho Tide on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 00:31
in

Nicholas Kristof attacked the subject of differentiating liberals from conservatives. Any such attempt is bound to have some limitations considering that there are a wide variety of people falling under both labels, and to some degree the labels are fluid over the years. For example, Barry Goldwater spent most of his career as a conservative leader, considered himself a liberal in his later years and, while he wouldn’t fit in perfectly with either group, would be radically at odds with today’s  conservative movement.

For whatever it is worth, I’ll throw out Kristof’s way to tell if someone is liberal or conservative:

If you want to tell whether someone is conservative or liberal, what are a couple of completely nonpolitical questions that will give a good clue?

How’s this: Would you be willing to slap your father in the face, with his permission, as part of a comedy skit?

And, second: Does it disgust you to touch the faucet in a public restroom?

Studies suggest that conservatives are more often distressed by actions that seem disrespectful of authority, such as slapping Dad. Liberals don’t worry as long as Dad has given permission.

Likewise, conservatives are more likely than liberals to sense contamination or perceive disgust. People who would be disgusted to find that they had accidentally sipped from an acquaintance’s drink are more likely to identify as conservatives.

The upshot is that liberals and conservatives don’t just think differently, they also feel differently. This may even be a result, in part, of divergent neural responses…

One of the main divides between left and right is the dependence on different moral values. For liberals, morality derives mostly from fairness and prevention of harm. For conservatives, morality also involves upholding authority and loyalty — and revulsion at disgust.

This fits in well with George Lakoff’s strict father view of conservatives. This mindset based upon upholding authority explains why so many go ballistic in response to criticism of government activities and see liberal dissent as subversive and unpatriotic, along with their tendency to compromise civil liberties to support authority.

 

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Here's The Best Test

Submitted by Betsy Ross on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 00:51.

A liberal is someone that believes the Constitution is fluid, and every changing, and that the language within the Constitution can be amended without going through the formal amendment process, and can be changed by inserting words into it, or changing the meaning of those words in order to promote an agenda.  Our Supreme Court has done this consistently since the Civil War, and even before when it created even another party to it, "corporate person-hood" which is really what brought us where we are today, in global corproate socialism.  A change of administration simply means a change in the corporate ruling body and industry now according to how much money they spread on both sides of the aisle.  There party system is dead, and has been for quite some time.

A Conservative views the Constitution as a contract, that can only be amended by the consent of the governed, and in going through the formal amendment process.  And since the 9th Amendment proceeds all those that came before, technically the remaining amendments are questionable - although quite a few are clearly Constitutional such as the13th, and granting women the right to vote after the wars in which many were left as property owners without husbands due to their losing their spouses due to governmental service.

And the year 1913 is the crux of the matter, when the owners of the Federal Reserve actually became the true governing body - when the Wilson Administration unlawfully transferred the power to print our currency and monetary system to a private entity, thus privatizing our monetary system when they had no inherent Constitutional authority to so do.

And now the Fed, which is owned by the European banking houses, wants control of the entire world economy, and the Muslim people are standing in their way - because the Muslim banks do not charge interest on debt, as it is forbidden under Old Testament law.  And until they tow the line, their goal of total control of the world's economy cannot come to pass.

So wake up, it doesn't matter whether you are liberal or conservative - because it is the governing board of the Fed that is calling the shots.  And that is why little changes with a change in Administration - because the Congress and President simply continue to do the Fed's work since they are beholden also to the bankers.

 

there are so many things wrong with your post.

Submitted by Maleficent on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 11:17.

I think this may be my last non-snarky response to you.

Muslims do not follow the Old Testament, as you so quaintly put it. They follow the Koran.

Sorry, You Are Wrong

Submitted by Betsy Ross on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 12:25.

Sorry, you are wrong.  The Koran is made up of Old Testament law, and they do follow the Old Testament prohibitions against usury.  Which are also in the Christian New Testament.  Both the Christian and Muslim faiths have prohibitions against charging what is know as "usury" or excess interest on "loans" or debt.  It is part of "loving thy neighbor."  They believe the prohibitions are personal ones and extend to all, whereas the Jewish faith believes that the charging of usury is prohibited against fellow Jews, but not gentiles.

You really know little about religion at all.  And you can research the Muslim beliefs on usury, and reason why they have their own banks, online if you wish to verify what I have written.

And I don't know what your agenda is, but you certainly don't know a great deal about what you are talking about at all.

because the concept of Jihad exists in JUDAISM

Submitted by Maleficent on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 12:45.

err... right.

Bitch, I get Christmas cards in Arabic from Iraq. That's me.

I know more about religions that you do.

For instance, did you know that G-d commanded Adam to fuck all of the animals in the Garden of Eden? Before Adam had any knowledge of right and wrong?

This is your bible lesson for the day -- word choice does mean something.

My, my

Submitted by Betsy Ross on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 12:54.

My, my the truth really does set the liberals off, does it not?  Did you research the Muslim beliefs on usury, and who actually owns our Federal Reserve (the major Jewish banking houses of Europe), and just why the terrorist chose to attach the World Trade Center, the financial and banking headquarters for this country?

Do you research, and enlarge your vocabulary, since it appears that truth and facts tend to upset you, as it does most liberals.

/killfile

Submitted by Maleficent on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 13:12.

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

I am a conservative. The

Submitted by Warner Todd Huston on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 06:32.

I am a conservative. The thought of "touching the faucet in a public restroom" did not make me wince at all. I've shared canteens with people that are strangers, too.

For as short and non-politically charged a test,

Submitted by Mike Poole on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 07:40.

 

 it seems to have a ring of truth. I definitely connected with that first question, no slapping of my father, even with his permission.  I go quite the other way with the faucet and cup sharing thing.   I would also say I believe in the morality of justice and put fairness as something “nice” but way down on the priority list in making most decisions.   To somewhat mimic a Bible story, if I get two kids to carry my groceries to my car for one dollar each, and when they both perform the work equally, I find in my wallet a ten and a five.  I give one a ten and one a five.  I’d say my action was  not very fair, but there was no injustice as they had both agreed to work for only one dollar.

Re.

Submitted by Jai Ho Tide on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 10:26.

Reading Betsy Ross's comment certainly does give some insight in identifying who is a conservative, even if not in the manner she intends.

Certainly Those That "Liberally" Construe the Constitution

Submitted by Betsy Ross on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 12:27.

I provided Madison's quotes, and just where are the historical references for your going outside Constitutional provisions for some of the positions that are in most of these posts, since you truly are not "conservatives" since "conservatives" believe in "preserving" the Constitution unless and until it is lawfully amended.  That is the basic difference between a "liberal" and a "conservative."  And I don't know how old you are, but our schooling in this respect was apparently neglected, as was your American history classes.

Again, signs of a conservative

Submitted by Jai Ho Tide on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 13:21.

Again, signs of a conservative. Of course many conservatives only back preserving the parts of the Constitution they like. The Bush years were hardly years in which the Constitution was respected or preserved. Incidentally, it was liberals (as well as some conservatives) who fought to preserve the Constitution. While Betsy’s arguments don’t hold up, the manner in which they are presented does show the true signs of at least one type of conservative.

Betsy, the Constitution and

Submitted by Isaza on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 13:45.

Betsy, the Constitution and its stated spirit & purpose has been violated in one form or another since it was put in place. 

Besides, though the Constitution does, on paper, provide guidelines, it isn’t as limiting as some portray it as.

do you realize that you're talking to someone

Submitted by Maleficent on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 13:57.

(betzy ross) who claims that Jewish Banks own the Federal Reserve?

I doubt the lady knows anything about the Kansas City Federal Reserve, nor the differences in what it reports on, visavis the other branches.

May I suggest merely killfiling her?

Not Worth Dealing With.

  Good article, such as this

Submitted by Libertarian Bob on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 14:15.

 

Good article, such as this near the end:

Libertarianism is not a fetish worship of liberty, nor is it clinging to our Constitution as an ideal document. It is intellectually dishonest to claim classical liberalism as our own and modern liberalism as some form of a bastard son, both movement can claim classical liberalism as an influence. Focusing on rolling back the clock to 1859 or 1800 is not libertarian, it is both radical and conservative in clinging to the past as better than our present condition.

The part about clinging to the Constitution helps distinguish Ron Paul from libertarians. While his view of the Constitution might be quite different from what the founding fathers envisioned, he still comes closer to being a backer of (his interpretation of) the Constitution as opposed to libertarianism.

  1) yeah, why not?  I got

Submitted by Isaza on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 12:43.

 

1) yeah, why not?  I got his permission!

2) depends on the conditions of the bathroom, not enough information.

 

Tide: conservatives don’t typically attack the concept of corporate personhood.  What Betsy Ross calls “corporate socialism” could more accurately be called capitalism (as in actually-existing capitalism).

 

True Conservatives Do, Not Neocons

Submitted by Betsy Ross on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 12:49.

Sorry, wrong again.  True conservatives do, neocons do not since they get campaign contributions from the Big Business donors and do believe in "corporatism," and do not view corporations as property - which they clear are, since they can be bought and sold, and are not "people" in any respect.

And appears you have been listening to neocon rhetoric for far too long.

If You Are Speaking About Someone Such as Rush

Submitted by Betsy Ross on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 12:51.

If you are speaking about someone such as Rush Limbaugh, the media has branded him a conservative, and he is clearly not in his views also of "corporatism," and "capitalism" which is not at all mentioned in our Constition, nor were corporations ever to have any "rights" at all.

Seems you never studied the Boston Tea Party and what that dumping of the tea in the harbor, and the hatred those founders had for the East India Tea Party was all about, in that private/public "sovereign" merger.

Rush Limbaugh calls HIMSELF a

Submitted by Chris S on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 14:47.

Rush Limbaugh calls HIMSELF a “conservative” and is rarely ever challenged on it, but whatever.

Doesn’t matter, the labels confuse more than they inform these days.  If the popular examples of conservative philosophy were provided by people like Daniel Larison, then I could see something to actually have a reasonable debate with.  Instead, anyone whose views go beyond “hooray for endless war & cronyism!” gets excommunicated. 

If true conservatives are anti-corporatism, then true conservatives are, by definition, verging on extinction.

you might check out Dr. David Brin

Submitted by Maleficent on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 14:49.

he's got some inspiring defenses of what a true conservative is like, on his blog.

  Chris -- but not quite

Submitted by Monique I on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 18:09.

 

Chris -- but not quite extinct.  And pretty good at snarky commentary.  Libertarian-types (which I guess could be called “true conservatives” or “true classical liberals” so you can really confuse people) are against private law (privilege).  Which corporations love -- it cements their status and helps them avoid the creative destruction of the marketplace.

They Also Did Not Believe in Foreigners Owning American Land

Submitted by Betsy Ross on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 13:00.

They also did not believe any non-U.S citizen had the inherent right to buy property or own land in this country, not until they were U.S. citizens - and would have been outraged at the selling off now of our assets and land to foreign interests.  Washington and Congress are acting as if they are CEOs of a mega-corporation, and that is why we are where we are.  They aren't reading the Constitution at all, and treating the federal goverment as if it were a business, which it is not.  It is government.  Two entirely different "legal" entitiies.

For the Record...

Submitted by Cahnman on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 13:44.

...Jesus was a Community Organizer; Pontious Pilate was a Governor!!! :)

Betsy, Comments such as

Submitted by Libertarian Bob on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 14:17.

Betsy,

Comments such as “Seems you never studied…” are uncalled for. You do not know what anyone studied, and having a different interpretation of something than you is hardly evidence that someone did not study something.

don't talk to the crazy old cat lady

Submitted by Maleficent on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 14:21.

who believes that Jewish Banks own the Federal Reserve.

just killfile her and go about your business.

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