Day 60: Liberal

Fianna's American friend is here with her 15 year old daughter who is quite impressive in her capacity for discussion and defending her opinions.  Overall she seems quite liberal in the American sense of the word which means more on the left of the spectrum.  At the same time she was defending the American right to bear arms, which is definitely not a leftist cause.  It raises the interesting question of how to define an internally consistent liberal position.  In general, I tend to feel that the less the state regulates things the more people take responsibility for their own actions which is probably a "good thing".  So lets look at a few simple issues:

1. Drugs
2. Guns
3. Speed limits
4. Prostitution
5. Abortion
6. Headscarves
7. Euthanasia
8. Redundancy
9. Seat belts

If you believe in individual freedom you should theoretically be in favour of all of the above being freely available/allowed (at least to adults).   And yet opinions on these issues are far from consistent, people are for liberal or restrictive policies on some of these issues but never all of them. I myself am very liberal on 1, 5, 7 and 8; restrictive on 2 and 6;  and ambivalent on 3, 4 and 9.  Maybe I should accept that its not possible to have a consistent approach to issues and that everything should be assessed on its own merits.   Then again, maybe not!