Name:   copperline - Subject:   Copperline Date:   12/30/2012 11:21:12 AM

Here’s a piece of irony i often think about.    Liberals in my day were very concerned about government intrusion into their lives, angry and shocked at the way government seemed to be using it’s vast powers to undermine us.   We believed the government was beyond our control, had an agenda controlled by a minority of wealthy Capitalists, and was bent on restraining the popular will of the people.  Liberals don’t so much have a history of trusting the government as much as a belief that many huge social problems have to be addressed on a scale that only the government can achieve.   That said, i’m very wary of the government.  i don’t like secret prisons, torture, renditions, wars based on dubious intelligence reports, and the fact that government has so many ways to snoop into my life.    i don’t like secret government programs that aren’t accountable to public scrutiny, sanctioned assassinations and the like.        Based on some of that, you could say that i have something in common with some Tea Party views.  

Fundamentally though, as much as i am wary of big government… As a whole i trust profit-driven corporations even less, and i disagree with a conservative approach that would give more control to corporations and trust that the free market will create an acceptable solution for every social problem we need to address.

it would be cool if we could make a list of the major areas of disagreement we have, and rather than argue about our differences try to find what common ground there is between the Liberal and Conservative view in each category.  As an exercise, it might be a good place to begin 2013’s discussion on the Forum.   Contribute topics to the list but refrain from phrasing them in ways intended to slight the other side, and identify (for now… we can always debate later) where our thinking is the same… and or maybe not so different from each other.

Differences from Right to Left

·         Welfare & the Social Safety Net

·         Healthcare

·         Wars and Foreign Affairs

·         Regulation of industry

·         The role of Religion in Governing the country

·         Civil Rights & expanding civil rights to minorities like Gays & Lesbians

·         Crime & Punishment

·         Poverty

·         What are the limits & role of government in society?  What is the role of Corporations?