[jbartone]

We all knew it was going to happen.

Unfortunately we were too stupid as a country to see through his interest rate bulls*it, we gave him a parliamentary majority and now look where it's landed us.

We're becoming more and more like the US, wait a second, that's exactly what the Liberals want don't they?

These ****ing Liberal idiots are ruining the country.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=3380

Australia may bow to drug firms' demands
21:29 AEST Fri Oct 22 2004

Prime Minister John Howard may bow to pressure from United States drug companies to ensure the operation of the America-Australia free trade agreement (FTA).

Mr Howard on Friday held out the possibility of changing Australian laws, passed with government support earlier this year, aimed at protecting generic drugs and keeping a lid on pharmaceutical prices.


Say Goodbye to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme as we know it, except drug prices to go up by atleast 5 to 6 times what they are now under the PBS

[icruise]

Why is it that the Australian Liberal Party is actually conservative?

And Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is quite conservative as well?

Interesting, isn't it?

[villalobos]

Originally posted by Icruise:
Why is it that the Australian Liberal Party is actually conservative?

And Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is quite conservative as well?

Interesting, isn't it?

It seems that liberal means conservative except in the US. Never understood that really.

[jbartone]

The capitalisation of the "L" in "Liberal Party of Australia" is extremely important.

[icruise]

Why does that make the difference?

[jbartone]

Because, down here, when we say "liberal", it's in the ideological sense, and "Liberal" is referring to the Liberal Party currently lead by John Howard.

[spectre]

To get an introduction to the term "liberalism" and how it differs around the world (and throughout history) people should check out wikipedia's entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism

I've generally tended to understand the term to be associated with those who are pro freedom and pro-democracy in opposition to the reactionaries (in the case of the nineteenth century) and conservatism. I definitely do NOT associate liberalism with socialism or communism. I guess I associate liberalism with being progressive, generally.

[jbartone]

Hey, thanks for that link. Has exactly wham I'm talking about.


1. In Australia, a capital-l Liberal (often spoken as such) is a member or supporter of the right-wing conservative Liberal Party of Australia. A small-l liberal generally refers to someone who champions civil liberties and progressive causes such as Australian republicanism and Aboriginal reconciliation, as with the Australian Democrats Party. Small-l liberals are becming less and less visible members of the Liberal Party. (See also Liberalism in Australia)

[icruise]

Originally posted by jbartone:
Because, down here, when we say "liberal", it's in the ideological sense, and "Liberal" is referring to the Liberal Party currently lead by John Howard.

I understand that, but I was wondering how the word could come to mean two totally opposite things depending on the context.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Icruise:
I understand that, but I was wondering how the word could come to mean two totally opposite things depending on the context.

Because even a conservative party has to present itself as "forward-moving", and image includes the name. You can't well run a campaign telling people "we're a reactionary bunch of rich people who want this country to look and work much as it did in the early days of the industrial revolution" and expect to win (except in America, where "liberal" is a McCarthyite insult).

Also, it may have to do with the fact that the Liberal (capital "L") parties' platforms WERE once new and progressive.

The rest of the world has moved on over the past century, but the name has stuck.

-s*

[nath]

Originally posted by spectre:
To get an introduction to the term "liberalism" and how it differs around the world (and throughout history) people should check out wikipedia's entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism

I've generally tended to understand the term to be associated with those who are pro freedom and pro-democracy in opposition to the reactionaries (in the case of the nineteenth century) and conservatism. I definitely do NOT associate liberalism with socialism or communism. I guess I associate liberalism with being progressive, generally.

that's pretty funny, in britain now the liberal democrats are seen as the mainstream party furthest to the left!

[spectre]

Originally posted by nath:
that's pretty funny, in britain now the liberal democrats are seen as the mainstream party furthest to the left!

Yeah.. Here in Canada, on the provincial level, the Liberal party (at least in British Columbia) is definitely on the right end of the political spectrum, whereas on the federal level the Liberal party is generally somewhere in the middle. I think this just goes to show that people shouldn't really pay that much attention to labels; that, and, one should understand that the connotations and even meanings of a word differ from culture to culture.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Because even a conservative party has to present itself as "forward-moving", and image includes the name. You can't well run a campaign telling people "we're a reactionary bunch of rich people who want this country to look and work much as it did in the early days of the industrial revolution" and expect to win (except in America, where "liberal" is a McCarthyite insult).

In Canada, until recently, one of our main political parties was the Progressive Conservative Party. it's now simply the Conservative Party.