Article: Academia: Where do you fit on the political ideological spectrum?

I don't swing either way. I'm a small 'L' libertarian, small 'L' liberal and small 'C' conservative sprinkled with a dash of saffron. I'm straight.

This makes me, I suppose, a purple Tory liberal libertarian.

Many of us are unsure of where we would fit on an ideological line. If people had to choose, I think liberalism would win out; politically speaking. Conservative thought has always been in the minority. The conservative voice operates in a boom and bust political ideological economy. The Western philosophical line is very much liberal with conservative hiccups in between.

However, that doesn't mean people are no conservative culturally or financially.

Still, there are some ideologies we knowingly reject. Most people would know if they were fascist, communist or anarchist. It gets confusing with conservatism and liberalism because they have intersected many times in history. In fact today's conservatives are yesterday's classical liberals. And today's liberals are really hard core old style conservatives like Edmund Burke. Libertarianism traces its roots back to classical liberalism too - though they sound very much like classical conservatives as well. Me? I know that I am not a socialist. The whole idea of my money going to someone else simply does not resonate with me.

Most people would agree that taxes for education, health, military and other essential services are fair game. For anything beyond this, I would much rather live in a society that appeals to me directly for funds for various activities that help to enhance our communities. If our society is civil and enlightened we will freely give. Instead, right now my money goes into all sorts of dubious programs and grants that I would otherwise not fund on my own.

Nor am I enamored with the fact that affirmative action or equal opportunity and other 'pet' programs that sometimes discriminates against the taxpayer. We try to rid one social problem by taxing another - the ones we deem to be the root of the problem of course.

Not sure how this ended up here but I'll close by saying that the Muppet Show was one helluva show.