Thanks Nina, I'm not sure about Al Quida, but it seems like the Taliban were conservatives because they are so adverse to change politically, they want to go back to the past socially, men hold all the power and women are relegated to dark corners, they also legislated morality in Afghanistan according to their beliefs, preventing anything secular or American. I guess I am just curious if they would be the conservative religious right, they don't seem to fit under any of the other types of conservatives, but I don't know if they believed in the free market to protect certian individuals. It seems like there isn't a definition that completely fits.
KCA
posted by Kimberly at 2:11 PM

Hello class, I've just been able to log in again, unfortunately I was having difficult with my server. I was wondering if anyone in our class would be willing to have a weekly discussion group to discuss the readings and any questions brought about during the lecture. I'm 100% willing to put in the effort, I'd be happy to at the least have two people to join. Any night monday-thursday 9pm-whenever fine with me on campus.-K. Wilkens
posted by Kimberly at 2:01 PM

I don't think that the Muslim fundementalist groups such as the Taliban and Al Quida would be included under religous right conservatives. Although the groups claim to be following their religion and acting by what their religion says, they really aren't. Their actions are much different then the ones that are dipicted in the Muslim holy book, the Quran. Therefore they may consider themselves religous right conservatives but I don't think they can be labeled that.
posted by Nina at 1:10 PM

Is it possible for the religious right conservatives to include muslim fundementalist groups like the Taliban and Al Quida?
Have a safe trip.
KCA
posted by Kimberly at 10:43 PM

I am leaving for Berkeley in a few hours, but I will still be checking my email and the weblog (though not as often as before, perhaps). I will be back in time for class on Tuesday, so don't think this is a reprieve. Be sure to read the conservatives in the reader (blue book) for Tuesday. If I die in some horrible plane crash, then you'll have to carry on without me, I guess. Stick to the syllabus and you will be fine. Ciao!
posted by Miguel at 12:23 PM

I forgot to add that Democrats tend to be welfare liberals advocating social reform while Republicans tend to be neoclassical liberals, advocating for smaller government which would allow an individual to further pursue his/her own interest without interference. the U.S. followed a more neoclassical liberal ideology until the early 20th century with Teddy Roosevelt's Progressivism and in the 1930's when FDR used the government as a means to help the poor and weakest in society during the depression. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" was a continuation of welfare liberalism.
posted by Kimberly at 11:45 PM

There is a difference of opinion on the value of individual freedoms vs. equal opportunity between welfare liberals and neoclassical liberals. Neoclassical liberals believe that government should have no role other than to help protect an individuals right to life, liberty, and property, and that being forced to help the poor and weakest of society infringes on individual freedoms, while the welfare liberals believe that in order for an individual to be free and have access to equal opportunity, the government must intervene to remove obstacles like poverty, illness, and prejudice. N'est pas?
posted by Kimberly at 11:33 PM

From the reading, I think that they had a hard time balancing freedom and equal opportunity, but I believe that they did have some balance. The people were free to do what they wanted as long as they did not interfere with the safety and opportunity of others. Each person was said to be on the same level when they were born later on, but it seemed to take a few years. Liberals started to believe that no matter where someone was born, they were not destined to do as they ancestors did. I am not sure if that really answers the question, but this is how I see it so far in the reading, but I am not all the way through it yet.
posted by Cindy at 8:15 AM

Tuesday will be an experiment. I will relly entirely on you (the class) to figure out the answer to the question I posed on Saturday (scroll down). So come prepared to discuss the readings.
posted by Miguel at 8:51 PM

After our readings I personally got the feeling that liberals didn't really balance freedom and equal opportunity, but that they chose one. Not that they were against one or the other but that they focused on one, and not so much on balancing the two. Maybe I misunderstood the reading on liberalism, it would be great if someone pointed out where liberals did/do try to balance the two. I might have just missed it.
posted by Nina at 5:57 PM