Liberalism? Conservative? What do these really mean?
Wow...good job! Pretty much sums it up and yeah...prepare to be attacked with namecalling. I'm sure they are on their way!
Why should I be liberal or conservative?
It doesn’t matter if you are a liberal or conservative. All that anyone should ask is that you stay open to new, different ideas, and you approach everything with a fact and reality oriented mindset, not one rooted in religion, dogma, or anything else. All that anyone can ask for is someone who is willing to debate, with fact, statistics, or evidence.That being said, the main difference between liberals and conservatives are that while liberals generally believe in social change, equality, and “big government”, conservatives believe in maintaining the status quo. However, there are some issues that both conservatives and liberals should agree on, yet somehow don’t.Climate change. This is a big one. How some people refuse to acknowledge a fact that has been proven so many times over and over again boggles my mind. The simple ability of some (usually far right conservatives) to ignore all the scientific evidence is astounding.Net Neutrality. This is also a big one, especially in the US. Why anyone who isn’t a rich douche bag looking to get richer (ahem, Ajit Pai) would support the repealing of a law that prevents big corporations from literally controlling everything we see on the internet also boggles my mind.Voting systems (first past the post, electoral college). Democracy is supposed to be based on the notion that the government is for the people, by the people. Yet, these voting systems turn these values on it’s head. How can a government controlled by a minority party that doesn’t even have the majority vote be a fair one, one that at least tries to best represent the interests of everyone? Short answer: it can’t.Gay/LGBTQ rights. Seriously? Do we even need to discuss this? FFS, leave these people alone. If someone wants to love someone of the same sex, who the fuck are you to tell them no? If someone thinks that they don’t belong in their body, who the fuck are you to tell them no? Family values are bullshit. Homosexuality is a sin, bullshit. I’m not gay, but I can definitely understand at least a small portion of these people’s frustrations when dealing with idiots who think that they’re so high and mighty and that they should have the right to control who marries who and has sex with who. Don’t be one of these people.In short, it doesn’t matter which one you are, just keep yourself open to any and all open ideas and critically think about everything. Don’t espouse hatred, or intolerance. That’s all there is, really.
Would Obama's policies be considered right-winged or Republican if he was president during the 80s or 90s?
Yes. The President he most closely resembles (in terms of policy and world view) is Eisenhower. Eisenhower was reluctant to commit US troops to foreign wars--got us out of Korea, avoiding committing to Indochina/Vietnam. Eisenhower railed against the Military-Industrial complex (some rhetorical similarities to Obama and his arguments with economic fairness). Eisenhower didn't seek to eliminate government. He tried to find common ground in the middle of positions. He implemented a number of National programs (Federal Highway system, Civil Rights Act). He failed to do anything about some extremist Republican actions (the Red Scare/Joe McCarthy).Specifically with Obama, he's been less "environmentally friendly " than Nixon and Ford were. He's done less on gun control than a couple of other Republican Presidents. His immigration policy is very consistent or to the right of Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush. Where Obama has acted in ways that wouldn't be considered similar to GOP policy of the 80's and 90's would be drone actions and special operations into countries we're not at war with (Yemen, Somalia). You've seen other Presidents of both parties us special ops but they've usually be isolated to a few incidents. ACA is a big departure b/c while John McCain had national healthcare in his platform in 2008, it wasn't mandatory for everyone--otherwise the GOP has consistently opposed expanding widespread access to healthcare from the 1980's on. George W. Bush (with the elimination of the donut hole and then HIV drugs to Africa) would be the GOP exception.