
I posted this as a reply in another forum after I had been called a liberal. I'd like some opinions, here.
I'm a die-hard center-of-the-road moderate.
I believe in the right to bear arms, but I also believe in that "well-regulated" part. I believe that weapons of indescriminate destruction are not covered in that right. A barrel of toxic sludge could be considered "arms" in the right hands, but that does not give you the right to store it in your basement next door.
I believe in capitalism and free enterprise. But I also believe that the keystone to capitalism is competition. Competition is what makes capitalism into the ideal tool to distribute limited resources to the public. The removal of competition is not capitalism... it is (edited:) a form of command economy. I believe the military budget is a command economy. I believe it is communist.
I believe that humanity should have a safety net for its citizens. We produce enough in this country to provide for those who fall between the cracks. The Phillips Curve insists that some people MUST fall through the cracks for our dollar to keep its value. If we had 100% employment, our dollar would inflate infinitely and lose its value. It is a moral and just thing to take care of those who help the economy by staying poor. Period.
I believe that it is in corporations best interest to remove competition. Thus, corporate self-interest is not inherantly tied to a good capitalistic economy. The obvious tool to turn loose on these enemies of free trade is the goverment. With the might of the masses at the throats of the oligarchical economists, we have natural preditors feeding on one another... and the public is served. Remember, no matter what Mises tells you, competition = capitalism.
I believe that certain things are the inevitable job of the goverment. I propose reducing government if all possible, but the moment that the potency of the "will of the people" is reduced, we have one ravenous predator who is unchecked by the other. It is always in our best interest to have an organized force of unionized americans, but we should never get them wet and we should never feed them after midnight.
Do I sound like a liberal to you?