conservative and progressive

dscott8 wrote:As soon as you pigeonhole people (including yourself) into one category or the other, you limit their options. Party-line voting is the curse of American politics.

Take myself, for example. I support equal rights for people of different sexual orientations and gender identities, but I also support the right to bear arms, yet I believe that mandatory training, more thorough background checks and serial number registration and transfer records are needed. I support a free-market economy but think that US corporations who export jobs to avoid higher US wages, unions and safety/environmental regulations should be tariffed more heavily on their imports. I believe in complete separation of church and state, but support religious freedom. On the other hand, I believe that sex education based on medical fact should be taught in all schools, based on a curriculum developed by doctors, not preachers. This, to me, is the way to lower abortion rates, but I still want that option available. I love and respect my country but I think the doctrine of "American Exceptionalism" is egotistical nonsense. I believe in limiting government power but recognize that it has a role in correcting society's injustices.

Am I conservative or progressive?

Like most of us, you're not on one side or the other of the artificial "political spectrum" the media uses to simplify issues into an "us vs them" mentality. Real political beliefs aren't a line, they're a shape with as many dimensions as there are issues, but that's hard to show in a nice little diagram during a 30 second news statement. What we really need is to open up the political system beyond the two major parties.

I'd like it on record that I'm not dscott8, but agree with virtually every word he has here. Slightly different opinion re bearing arms, privilege not right but otherwise identical.
As I said at the intro I'm a blend of both, and I believe he/she is also.

dscott8 wrote:As soon as you pigeonhole people (including yourself) into one category or the other, you limit their options. Party-line voting is the curse of American politics.

Take myself, for example. I support equal rights for people of different sexual orientations and gender identities, but I also support the right to bear arms, yet I believe that mandatory training, more thorough background checks and serial number registration and transfer records are needed. I support a free-market economy but think that US corporations who export jobs to avoid higher US wages, unions and safety/environmental regulations should be tariffed more heavily on their imports. I believe in complete separation of church and state, but support religious freedom. On the other hand, I believe that sex education based on medical fact should be taught in all schools, based on a curriculum developed by doctors, not preachers. This, to me, is the way to lower abortion rates, but I still want that option available. I love and respect my country but I think the doctrine of "American Exceptionalism" is egotistical nonsense. I believe in limiting government power but recognize that it has a role in correcting society's injustices.

Am I conservative or progressive?

I think having both progressives and conservatives is incredibly valuable. Even when we disagree. By that I mean real progressives and real conservatives not politician who play progressive/conservative for the TV cameras but are actually high functioning sociopaths. Each side has something to contribute and the best policies have a bit of both in them. OK there are some individuals.... but as a group there are advantages.

For example I am generally a conservative/libertarian blend but I still see value in Elizabeth Warren (Famous USA left wing senator). She is an idea factory on the economy and we desperately need new ideas. Neither of the old conservative nor the old progressive ideas are working all that well (the old progressive ones are working worse but the old conservative/libertation ones aren't all that great either). She has new ideas. Now in their raw form they're terrible. She's an academic and like the majority of academics her ideas are a bit out of touch with the real world. But they are starting points. Take them real worldize them, blend them with conservative concerns and some of the ideas have potential. She's too far left & too academic for me to want her to have too much power (to much power and she'd force her ideas through in their unworkable raw state) but because of her ideas I would like her to have enough power to make herself heard even though she is a progressive and I am not.

dscott8 wrote:As soon as you pigeonhole people (including yourself) into one category or the other, you limit their options. Party-line voting is the curse of American politics.

Take myself, for example.

I'll just address the "progressive" side of the question here:

I support equal rights for people of different sexual orientations and gender identities,

- progressive

but I also support the right to bear arms,

As do most progressives. Wanting proper regulation is not the same thing as the hysterical "they wanna grab my guns nd disarm the entire country!!!!!" hand wringing that conservatives like to engage in.

yet I believe that mandatory training, more thorough background checks and serial number registration and transfer records are needed.

Like I said... progressive.

I support a free-market economy

As does essentially every person in the US. Which includes progressives.

but think that US corporations who export jobs to avoid higher US wages, unions and safety/environmental regulations should be tariffed more heavily on their imports.

Most progressives would agree, although since there are so many approaches to economic intervention to curb the worst excesses and offenses of unfettered free market activity you can always find people advocating different approaches to the same problem. But overall, yup, progressive.

I believe in complete separation of church and state,

-Progressive.

but support religious freedom.

-Also progressive. I don't know why you keep putting in these "buts" and "howevers" in this list.

On the other hand, I believe that sex education based on medical fact should be taught in all schools, based on a curriculum developed by doctors, not preachers.

-Still progressive.

This, to me, is the way to lower abortion rates, but I still want that option available.

Progressive again.

I love and respect my country

As do progressives.

but I think the doctrine of "American Exceptionalism" is egotistical nonsense.

On board with most progressives there.

I believe in limiting government power

So do progressives. Primary opposition to things like the Patriot Act came from that camp... (keep in mind the difference between limiting power and simply slashing government for the sake of not letting it tax you money that then gets spent on poor people or something)

but recognize that it has a role in correcting society's injustices.

-and yet another progressive position.

Am I conservative or progressive?

Well, since you didn't express a *single* position that was in opposition to progressives...