10 Reasons to Hate a Liberal

The following essay is based on The Liberal Manifesto, adopted by the 48th Congress of Liberal International on 27-30 November 1997 in The Town Hall in Oxford, UK. And following these first few paragraphs, ten reasons are enumerated which pretty much reflect the thought process of most of the libtards and librandus.

“Freedom, responsibility, tolerance, social justice and equality of opportunity: these are the central values of Liberalism, and they remain the principles on which an open society must be built. These principles require a careful balance of strong civil societies, democratic government, free markets, and international cooperation.”

“We believe that the conditions of individual liberty include the rule of law, equal access to a full and varied education, freedom of speech, association, and access to information, equal rights and opportunities for women and men, tolerance of diversity, social inclusion, the promotion of private enterprise and of opportunities for employment. We believe that civil society and constitutional democracy provide the most just and stable basis for political order. We see civil society as constituted by free citizens, living within a framework of established law, with individual rights guaranteed, with the powers of government limited and subject to democratic accountability.”

– The Liberal Manifesto

1. Liberals are against authoritarian regimes.

Liberals are against all kinds of authoritarian and military regimes. They are in favour of human rights and democracy and mostly against capital punishment. They desire less spending in the military and more for the welfare of the poor. They are in favor of free media and consider tolerance to be crucial to the existence of a civilized society.

2. Liberals are against violence.

They want a world where all the countries co-operate with each other to fight transnational crime, intractable disease, environment pollution and climate change and to find effective means of avoiding violence.

3. Liberals want citizens to question their governments.

They believe that effective decentralization of the political power to local regions and communities is the best way to empower every citizen. Liberals want citizens to be informed and able to question the actions of their government.

4. Liberals want the government to have welfare economic policies.

Liberals believe that poverty breeds despair and despair breeds extremism, intolerance, and aggression. The central question in the alleviation of poverty is how to provide people with the means to fight poverty themselves, to lift themselves out of poverty. They demand active policy for the provision of education, employment, and welfare schemes to the needy.

5. Liberals believe that human rights are universal.

They insist that human rights are indivisible and universal, and do not depend on citizenship of a specific state, or on membership of a particular ethnic or social group, gender, religion or political party. Adequate sanctions should be found by the international community against governments which refuse to observe the principles of an open international society.

6. Liberals are against the overloading of government and stifling of private initiative.

Liberals may have varying opinions on the extent of government interventions. But many believe that in development solely or predominantly actions are bound to fail and that the private initiative along with the government can produce sustainable development. Liberals recognize that the capacity of government is limited, that ‘big government’ and the growth of state expenditure are themselves serious threats to a free society, and that limiting the scope of government and retrenchment of government spending must, therefore, be given priority.

7. Liberals want those who pollute the environment to pay for it.

Liberals seek a new contract between generations, recognizing the benefits which current consumers and citizens have received from an earlier investment and the responsibilities they carry to maintain and renew the natural environment, cultural treasures, public assets, and social capital for future generations. Prices should reflect the underlying costs of pollution and of the exploitation of natural resources.

8. Liberals welcome scientific innovation.

Liberals welcome the economic and social opportunities presented by new technologies and scientific innovation. But they also recognize the need for public scrutiny of their potential impact, and misuse, and for national and international regulation.

9. Liberals believe in the need for open markets.

They believe that open societies need open markets. They also believe that political freedom and economic freedom belong together. And that in order to achieve an ecologically and socially sustainable development the emphasis should be shifted from taxation of labour to taxation of energy and raw material consumption. Without such a change the environmental problems and the unemployment will continue to increase.

10. Liberals desire world-wide development.

Liberals believe that it is in the long-term self-interest and also a moral responsibility of the developed world to encourage human progress, and assist economic development within poor countries and emphasize open global markets and free trade.