Are You a Liberal?

In this video Dennis Prager echoes what I’ve thought for a long time, namely that many people who call themselves “liberal” are actually not. I’ve taken the time to discuss individual issues with close friends of mine who consistently vote Liberal/NDP/Democrat and lo & behold it quickly becomes apparent that they have mostly conservative views. Unfortunately the MSM has been so successful at brainwashing folks into voting far afield from where their views actually reside. This, by the way, is why I think so many on the Far Left are incredibly scared of the emergence of Sun TV News onto Canadian televisions in a few months.

34 Replies to “Are You a Liberal?”

  1. A vast majority of Canadians are fiscally conservative.
    In a free country, everybody has the God-given right to make their own choices and make mistakes.
    Both sides of the political spectrum have their control freaks and conspiracy theorists.
    What the control freaks fail to appreciate is the true road to inner peace (is that the symbol that’s being flashed) is through self-control, not giving up control of your life to those who consider themselves more enlightened than you are.
    Any time somebody tries, ask them “what makes you believe you are more qualified than me to spend my money and tell me how I should behave?”

  2. I think the arrival of Sun Tv to the canadian media scene will push the established news and entertainment vendors further to the left. Similar to what has happened in the USA. I hope for Sun’s success. I hope for the demise of the CBC.

  3. I’ve often mused about this.
    I’ve said before that: Rappers are conservatives, they just don’t know it.
    The same can be said for many demographics.
    I’ve harped on the belief before that the biggest problem with conservatives is they allow the opposition to control the message and define what conservatism is.

  4. Most liberal voters have no clue how far left that party has gone or what it stands for these days which is “Absolute Power” at all cost to society.

  5. Number 10 and 21 of the test on Prager’s website were the only two on which I exhibited ideological waverousness.
    I’ve often thought a rigorous application of the socratic method would reveal to most people that they’re not really lefties, but you have to tie them to a chair, and…
    I doubt I could learn Hebrew in 6 months.

  6. “Political tags – such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth – are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.”
    — R.A.H.

  7. It doesn’t matter how you rate on Prager’s test.
    If you’re disengaged enough to let the MSM set the narrative on these issues and tell you how to feel/think about them instead of figuring them out for yourself then you are a Liberal.
    It’s the hive mentality versus the individual.

  8. “Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis, “of freedom”)[1] is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights.[2] Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutions, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, capitalism, free trade, and the separation of church and state.”
    The “classic” liberal? Well, yes I am, but not the current day progressive type.
    Do I have to sit in the penalty box for saying that?

  9. A vast majority of Canadians are fiscally conservative.
    socialized health care. socialized education.

  10. AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
    I’m a liberal! and I didn’t even know it.
    kidding

  11. Hmm. I think he’s outlining, a bit, classic liberalism – which is very similar to conservativism. But what most people understand as ‘Liberal, Democrat, NDP etc is not classic liberalism. So, I think that he’s confusing the issue.
    I found his questions didn’t touch what I consider basic axioms of the Liberal-Democrat-NDP ideology:
    A belief in big government, with universal regulations governing all aspects of life; health, education, industries, environment;
    A belief in public rather than private rendering of goods and services to the population;
    A rejection of wealth and a focus on redistribution;
    A focus on multiculturalism and cultural relativism and maintaining historic beliefs and behaviour;
    None of these were dealt with in the questionnaire. As I said, classical liberalism is actually modern conservativism: small govt, freedom of the individual, private production of goods and services etc.

  12. Alternatively, ivebeenconned, maybe a liberal is someone who thinks he’s about to get something for free.

  13. A true (progressive) liberal is someone who believes that everyone picking each other’s pockets constitutes a sound economic system.

  14. I’m with Black Mamba, six months for Hebrew? If my experience learning military French is anything to go by, I might be able to speak “sandbox” Hebrew, which is being able to carry on a basic conversation with the kids playing in the sand with Tonka trucks. Mind you, that is only if they speak slow to me.
    Having said that, even some rudimentary Hebrew would get me a lot farther in Israel than my French got me in Yellowknife.

  15. mitchel44 – separation of church and state – as in keeping the state out of the affairs of church? If I want to believe that abortion is murder, what right has the state to make me accept it as a right?
    Also, I am to assume that you are for the destruction of our state because the head of it, the Queen, is also the head of the Church of England (Anglican or Episcopalian, world-wide)

  16. I think that’s an accurate observation. In fact, I think even some of the people we would not normally associate with conservatism — such as the Gay community — have a much higher conservative representation and respect for traditional liberalism than the Left media wants to represent. For example, the big push for homosexist education for children is coming from Left HETEROSEXUALS far more than by actual Gays. The tactic is to deliberately provoke a backlash against Gays to justify more radical control and interference in schools, families, etc. The radical Left is doing the same thing with minorities, women, religion, etc. It creates a vicious circle and self-fulfilling prophecy in order to justify the radical action in the first place: “See, we told you there were all kinds of homophobes, islamophobes, racists and misogynists out there, because look how people are getting angry at these groups!” It’s Marxist conflict-based dialectics to justify more and more control — i.e. provoke a stronger reaction to justify an even stronger counter-reaction to bring it under control. Until control is practically absolute.
    We need a return to classic liberal freedoms, and conservatives seem to be the only ones representing that option right now.

  17. “We need a return to classic liberal freedoms, and conservatives seem to be the only ones representing that option right now.”
    Perhaps we should punt the ‘conservative’ moniker and start calling ourselves ‘classic liberals’.
    I’ve commented recently on ‘controlling the message’ and ‘defining ourselves’. THIS…seems to be a very good idea. It would perhaps provoke critical thinking for those who call themselves liberal.JMO

  18. This test suffers from a binary division of human political thought. I scored 1/21 which, in the view of the test author, makes me a conservative. I also get a perfect Libertarian score on the advocates for self government test which tells me that the pragerU test is invalid. While Libertarians have a lot in common with Conservatives, I don’t consider myself a Conservative. If the pragerU test had included questions about psychoactive drug decriminilization and private sexual acts, I would probably have scored as a liberal.
    Binary divisions come very naturally to people likely because we have 2 cerebral hemispheres which subserve quite different functions. Just because we see two distinct divisions doesn’t mean there isn’t far more underlying complexity present.

  19. English does you fine in most parts of Isreal.most merchants speak it.
    and for driving
    really only the north where the signs are written in scribbles.

  20. I took the test and found out what I always suspected,that I am a flaming Conservative.
    Btw a friend just told me that he heard that
    semi auto rifles/shot guns are about to be or already are banned in Canada,please tell me it isn’t so anyone?

  21. Just because we see two distinct divisions doesn’t mean there isn’t far more underlying complexity present.
    Yeah, it’s a circle, with conservative and leftists directly opposite. Which means so-called libertarians are closer than being opposite to leftists. As you demonstrated.
    There’s right and there’s wrong, there’s no part right.

  22. madasl, where have you been since 1991? Kim Campbell, bill C17. Contact your friendly Provincial Firearms Officer to find out if your personal property could land you in the slammer for ten years.
    I’d call from a phone booth if I were you. Check for cameras first. Wear a hoodie in case you miss one.

  23. larben,
    “Church and state separation” seems to point direct to abortion to you, I’m afraid I don’t see it that way. To me it’s the lack of enforcement, in either direction, or as I believe it’s quoted in Matthew 22:21, something about “Render unto Caesar….
    You get to worship how your particular sect likes, and the Government gets to govern in accordance with it’s established rules and regulations.
    As I recall, the Queen is a “titular” figure, in both positions. It’s a polite fiction from another age, she wields no real power.
    For what it’s worth, I think that abortion shows people who accept no responsibility for the consequences of their own actions, and are probably not ready to be out making decisions on their own.
    But that’s just one opinion among many.

  24. There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the US Constitution.
    There is the establishment clause in the first amendment by which the state cannot establish a religion. Think back to Henry VIII for that one.
    Hmmm. The religion of Gaia.

  25. fiddle writes:
    There’s right and there’s wrong, there’s no part right.
    Depends on the subject under consideration. Only in mathematics does one have propositions that can be proven true given an initial set of postulates.
    Unfortunately, aside from quantum mechanical phenomena, the vast majority of things people deal with are shades of gray rather than discrete values. Even people who correctly predict climactic fluctuations or the stock market may be right for the wrong reasons or just plain lucky. With reality being as chaotic and random as it is, it’s no surprise that some people head for the reassurance of religion or various strict moral codes.
    The best arbiter of what is right and wrong is reality and survival is the means by which evolution picks the organisms that made the right choices (or were lucky but endless runs of luck are exceedingly rare).

  26. No gray for me, just right or wrong. You’re wrong.
    Although, I’m sure it’s all too “complex” for me.
    The best arbiter of what is right and wrong is reality and survival is the means by which evolution picks the organisms that made the right choices
    Ah, you’ve found perpetual life, have you?

  27. “The best arbiter of what is right and wrong is reality and survival” over time. It’s no surprise that some people turn to religion because it has stood the test of time. I can’t believe there are still harebrained evolutionists who liberally think you have to re-invent the wheel every morning at dawn. Let alone liberal evolutionists who one day make the wheel round then the next oblong or maybe square or rectangular or … depending on the situational whim that exists purely in their own head. The downfall of western culture began when it convinced itself that evil does not exist preferring instead to believe in shades and hues and tints of ‘its all good’.

Navigation