I consider myself to be primarily liberal with a few evil, err....conservative traits. I find that my beliefs regarding equality, abortion, the separation of church and state, and environmental protection lean far from Republicans. When it comes to political corruption, foreign policy, and special interest politics both parties are awful.
I am a gun owner and spend a lot of time at the range; so I am pro-second amendment, but not the Republican version, and I have always hated the NRA.
I don't think anyone is completely in line.with either party, but generally go with the one they agree with on the issues that matter most to then

I'm a progressive liberal. Unfortunately, nearly all of the Democratic Party is neo-liberal.

Justice Democrats taking over!

Same, I am a swing voter, I hassle people of all political persuasions, none of them agree with me on every issue, so I have no loyalty to any of them.

I have no party as I dislike pigeonholing my philosophy with a label and find that all of the parties are corrupt, inefficient, outdated, or just plain stupid, but I generally align classic libertarian (not capital "L" Libertarian party which has been hijacked by right wingers that don't understand what libertarians actually are). I'm not opposed to government, as I can see some benefits, but I'm also against overreach and bureaucracy.
I tend to lean pretty liberal socially and fairly conservative fiscally. I find that as the parties move left (Democrats, Socialists, Greens, etc) that they become increasingly naive about economics and human nature while the move to the right just involves increased intolerance and selfishness.
On the whole, I hate politics because there is no "one size fits all" solution to government and the bigger the populace governed, the less effective that government will be. And what we have no is a system of ideologues that seem far more concerned with ideas that will never work than with actually figuring out real solutions to problems.

I refuse to adhere to any specific ideology. Rather, I actively gather information from a wide variety of sources and analyze it carefully for accuracy, rationality, relative objectivity, and usefulness. I am not content to just go by what I see and hear in my everyday life, because that can put blinders on oneself. My life experiences -- in this and other cultures, in the intellectual world, and day to day --combine with the information I glean study of outside information lead me in a Progressive direction, and I am proud of it.

A lot of ideas/views are very similar to those others have had at some time or other. Would you like to share some new ideas/views of yours?

I too primarily like to think for myself and make my own decisions.

I do like to base my views on facts. I find that facts tend to primarily support the liberal (in the U.S.) viewpoint, so a lot of people would think of me as a liberal, when I am actually just a person whose viewpoint is factually based.

Best post I've seen all day!

To know yourself outside of the duality is the key.

I only align my self with these labels as it saves time. I think no one is anything really. Political parties are private clubs. It seems stupid to me to ascribe to one. Why would I want people who won't let me in their club govern me? Even if they do accept me in, I wouldn't want to be there anyway. I advocate for a logical and fact based society that has yet to exist.

To most people, relating to a group is paramount for social acceptance. I'm sure we can all agree, since this is the website for it, that religion was once a fantastic way of sharing the ideas we have grown to adopt with or without influence. it used to be, anybody who was immoral or an outsider is likely to hurt, harm or interfere with the lives of others. negatively of course.

now, we, the global population, can speak and be heard by people of all kinds. some less accepting of outsiders than others, some more sinister and some not as intelligent as they should be when concerning specific matters and talking points.

I recently had a long think about this and I came to the conclusion, language is is in a stranglehold. it started with "sexist" language, such as job titles back in the 50's and 60's, "policeman" is a great example of this. the varied names of flight crew depending on their sex has been a cause for title changes numerous times. that's where it really started. soon after, feelings started being the sole controller for what can be said around or about other people.

(don't worry, I have a point to this)

it's this language policing, this control of what you can and can't say, which has distorted the intention behind what anybody wants to communicate. I live in england, we have a universal income and there are certain parameters you need to meet in order to be given money to stay alive, obviously one of them is to actively look for work and prove you're doing it. I had my money stripped away because I was looking for a bartender job and I would be a barman if that was the case, I was stripped of my money because of my "sexist" barman job search. I was ordered to change my language to say "bar person". this is why the waters are getting very muddy and nobody can see which way is the right way to go. everything just hits the sides and never goes upstream. this is why you don't admit an affiliation. you do fall into a category, we all do, but language control has forced us to avoid it due to stigma and assumptions based on it.

nobody is actually a part of any political position, not anymore, we know that everybody should be treated like adults and that they should be capable of taking and giving criticism to improve life in general. this is basically the who religious argument all over again when concerning morality and where it "comes from". you, like everybody else and myself, derive your social and moral contemplation's from the expectation that you should treat others as you want to be treated. this is basically what you're saying. you behave as you see fit to the situation at hand while remaining true to your core understanding of the world we inhabit.

most people on the planet are de facto socialists. they want to have a chance at life, they want everybody to be comfortable and content with their lives. this is universal only because it's what we as individuals want. when it became really obvious that the empowerment of women improved societal health, we let it go too far, now, it's all about feelings and emotions and when to say something or not. the reason we can't entirely dedicate our personality to one political set of ideas, is because we don't want to anger someone to the point of aggression towards us, sympathy or feign interest in your needs. I'm not american and even though right now america is in a state of collapse socially, economically and globally in terms of respect, I still adore the constitution and what it stands for, the entire idea of america is fucking brilliant. but this language policing has spread from the USA into other countries and causing divides and conflicts. even here in the UK, we ended up with a retarded BLM movement because some black people lived near an airport. not because they were on welfare or because they had somehow been thrown to one side, but because they lived in a place neat an airport. nobody could argue against it without the racist card being played.

I am one of a few people who isn't afraid to use the word "nigger" properly. I don't dance around pronunciation, pretending "nigga" is more acceptable, that's just a dialect which seems less intrusive but in the end, it's just a word for black people. just like negra or negro is spanish, I think, or french, for the colour black. it's nothing more and nothing less. the only reason we're not supposed to say it is because of someones feelings. hmm, I should clarify that. the only reason WHITE people can't say it. yep. language control of a certain demographic. our thoughts and opinions are only as good as the language we use. this is why you can't choose a political side, the same applies to me. all ideas should be shared, the best ones will eventually take root and improve lives. I'm not proposing white people should run around calling every black person a nigger, I'm saying the word, like pretty much all other descriptive words, can be used negatively and positively. "Fuck" can encompass this idea perfectly. I like to say I worship the "god of Fuck" because that god is there for everybody all the time in every situation. when you hurt, when you're happy, ecstatic, dreading, surprised, emotionally evocative and perpetually confused, the word on it's own literally fits everywhere. yet, it's frowned upon for using it. why? because feelings.

if any leader stepped forward and said "this is fucking stupid, let's fix this shit now and improve the lives of every man woman and child for fuck sake." you'd instantly recognise the emotion and passion instead of analysing the sterile words of politicians and thinking they are either lying or not wholly invested in their own propositions. again, the only reason you would rather think for yourself and say you're independent of politics, is because the sterile nature of language has removed all passion and encouragement from change.

I did say I had a long think, and I conclude, the only reason we, the human population, are in this situation right now, is language sterilisation and control. if you can control the tongue of a man, you can control his thoughts. this is why we don't let kids swear, we encourage them to be nice and think nice things. we make them feel bad for saying things we don't like, and as a result, control their thoughts. your thoughts are only as good as the language you use.

most of you will agree with me because I'm not pretending to be nice to your feelings, I'm saying it how it is and there is no vitriolic intention and you know it. it's almost as if you knew this all along but for some reason, couldn't put it into words, and now you know why. great speakers and great thinkers are who we gravitate towards, not because they're super careful with language, but because they say things in such a manner we wish we could say in a public setting without recourse from those offended or rebellion from those who disagree. again we struggle to speak that way because we need society to accept us, and any possibility of being cast out because of what we say,is something we try to avoid. this is true because you don't subscribe to a side, and you don't subscribe because one way or the other, you're going to be judged and cast out by somebody.

I suppose that's why people like us who proclaim to be "free thinkers" have had to resort to private conversations on forums like this. we do out best not to preach, but, I can't help but think it's affecting us and the people around us negatively. we stay quiet when we should speak up. I'm just as guilty as most people. I find myself replying to something and realising it's not socially acceptable regardless of it's usefulness or factual basis. we should drop this fear and engage our fellow man head on. but we are too weary and protective of ourselves to risk being labelled a radical or a moron who shouldn't be trusted. the best ideas will spread while the worst will be ridiculed. if I am wrong, I would love a discussion, but I have a sneaking suspicion.... actually fuck that ambiguity, I know for a fact I'm right and I know there isn't an argument for censorship which doesn't end in tyranny. the first words to be removed will just be the sound of a starting gun, as soon as that happens, it's a race to the finish and censorship already had a head start. good luck telling me why I'm wrong. I know we're like minded and I'm probably preaching to the choir, but it needs to be said, while it can be said.

Democratic Party and the Republican Party have definite and opposing agendas. It makes little difference if you do not support either...they are the choices whether or not you agree with them. The best anyone can do is to pick the lesser of two evils when it comes to voting. It is a two-party system.

I think most people follow their own beliefs. And then other people say, OH, that makes you a liberal/conservative/socialist/nazi.

I don't think the terms liberal and conservative mean much. In Texas, every republicn is apparently required to put conservative somewhere in their advertising. But, does conservative mean no to school funding, no to womens rights, no to gay marriage? Or does it just mean, let's balance the budget?

Do you vote In primaries? I think in most places you need to show party affiliation, don't you? I changed to Independent from Democrat after the last go round. But I retain a Democrat leaning.

Ok

All very well but if you think your views are important enough you need to get involved in politics to progress them. Otherwise you end up a navel-gazer.

Same here. I let my experience, observation, and independent interpretation influence my decisions, but I sometimes solicit the opinions of a few trusted advisors.

Me too. I used to be a believer in political parties, but now it's all about getting re-elected and not about instituting the policies in the campaign promises.

When someone asks what party I belong to, I just tell them I'm an American. I refuse to be pigeonholed into a specific party.