3 ms·

Hmm, this piqued my curiosity a bit. The confidence with which you said it made me wonder if I'd been misusing the term "fiscal conservative" all these years, b

Hmm, this piqued my curiosity a bit. The confidence with which you said it made me wonder if I'd been misusing the term "fiscal conservative" all these years, but after some (extremely brief) research I think I was right all along: Fiscal conservatives seek to reduce taxes and regulation[0]. But that would reduce your entire comment to basically "right wing" == "conservative" && "left wing" == "liberal". Am I missing something? (Very honest question--I'd love to learn something here.) 0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_conservatism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_conservatism EDIT: Err, it seems the Wikipedia article I cited is more focused around the idea of reducing government expenditures rather than necessarily reducing taxation or regulation, although it does seem to suggest that fiscal conservatives are more likely to reduce government in general (assuming a deficit isn't already present). Anyway, it doesn't seem to match up with the parent comment.

antics 13y ago
The short answer to whether that is a good phrase to be using is that it depends on where you are. Outside of the wind tunnel of American politics, "liberal" tends to mean that many liberties are afforded you, with the implication being that you have fewer regulations and rules. But in America, liberalism is not merely a factual description of how encumbered $SOME_ENTITY is, it's also seen as an ideology that stands in opposition to conservatism. So it's a bit overloaded. If you're living in America, you probably haven't been using it wrong, per se. That said, I have no degree in political science. So, WTF do I know. Here is your grain of salt. You're probably right though that I should not use "fiscally conservative" as the opposite of "fiscally liberal", because they are not really opposites.

3 ms·

Hmm, this piqued my curiosity a bit. The confidence with which you said it made me wonder if I'd been misusing the term "fiscal conservative" all these years, b

by napoleond 13y ago

antics 13y ago
The short answer to whether that is a good phrase to be using is that it depends on where you are. Outside of the wind tunnel of American politics, "liberal" tends to mean that many liberties are afforded you, with the implication being that you have fewer regulations and rules. But in America, liberalism is not merely a factual description of how encumbered $SOME_ENTITY is, it's also seen as an ideology that stands in opposition to conservatism. So it's a bit overloaded. If you're living in America, you probably haven't been using it wrong, per se. That said, I have no degree in political science. So, WTF do I know. Here is your grain of salt. You're probably right though that I should not use "fiscally conservative" as the opposite of "fiscally liberal", because they are not really opposites.