The founders of the US were liberals
Defining a liberal as one who wants to change the way things are being run so there is more LIBERty.
I admit it
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I am in denial
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by that definition, Hitler was a liberal, and I agree with both statements (based on your definition, of course). So, if we wish to describe a Liberal as someone who wants to change things, I guess the entire Republican Party is a bunch of Liberals... and so are all the Libertarians, KKK, National Socialists, Tea Party, Westboro baptist church members, Communist revolutionaries, and pretty much everyone who has ever wanted to change how things are currently being done. But if we want to go by politics and ideologies, the founders ranged from Libertarian (Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson) to Authoritarian (John Adams). But more were Libertarian... John Adams was just a douche-bag with his alien/sedition act (which we can compare to what Republicans and many Democrats of today support [Patriot act]) Side: they were a lot of things
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Indeed they were. Alexander Hamilton and John Adams even believed in loose constructionism, as in the expansion of government power based on a very broad interpretation of the United States Constitution. Such a belief was a primordial form of liberalism and progressivism. Side: I admit it
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All the founders didn't have the same political philosophy Neither do all liberals I think of conservatives as being the type who for the most part want to keep things the way they are. However, at this point for the US to return to anything like Constitutional governance, it would require a liberal change. Whats wrong with me thinking: liberal = thinks things ought to be drastically changed conservative = thinks for the most part our system should be left as it is Side: I admit it
I suppose by the very broad definition you are using, but this is not what is meant when we talk about liberals in today's lexicon. The framers were a wily bunch who disagreed on many matters even amongst themselves. To suggest that the framers were all ________, is more often than not a political tool, than a historical reality. Side: they were a lot of things
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Rebellion against a government or institution does not mean a person is a liberal. For example, the Confederacy rebelled the US, and they certainly weren't liberals. Furthermore, the majority of discontent present in the late 1700's colonial America was caused by the British government denying the traditional rights of English citizens, such as representation in Parliament, and having regional government officials. The founders rebelled in an effort to restore those original rights that British citizens had all along. In fact, most of them didn't want to rebel, and were loyal to the crown up until it was blatantly obvious that they couldn't reconcile their issues. This makes them conservatives. Side: I am in denial
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I am not in denial, you have just decided to make this topic impossible to argue by injecting your obvious bias. Conservative and liberal are ways of thinking. You are really oversimplifying things here and you're assuming that things are black and white. Side: I am in denial
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