According to Wikipedia, liberalism (from the Latin liberalis) is a political philosophy or worldview founded on the ideas of liberty and equality. "Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally they support ideas such as free and fair elections, civil rights, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free trade, and a right to life, liberty, and property."
As one can tell, the concept of liberalism is an evolutionary concept that requires certain maturity level and a clear understanding of what is going on around. Every single word in the definition mentioned has different interpretations and has led to the development of the rule of law worldwide and specifically in the civilized world.
However, this word is repeated by many people in our society and mentioned under the political view of so many facebook users without really giving this word a good clear thought. Yes, the concept of liberalism versus conservatism can be place or time dependent This means, one could be conservative in the US and liberal in Lebanon but this only happens if some views have developed further in one place and still at late stages in another. This also means that one can have a positive opinion about something till a certain limit and a negative opinion about the same thing if that thing reached the limit that one has already determined. Also, one doesn't have to be completely liberal or completely conservative where one can actually pick and choose from the two concepts that best fit his/her way of life as long as no contradiction arises at any point. However, trying to cling to one concept has the serious price of really understanding the deep definition.
Unfortunately, the whole discussion about liberalism in Lebanon is reduced to sexual liberalism which I also believe is a real scam. Forget about gay rights, women rights, pro-life/pro-choice, free trade, small government/ big government, etc... The people's narrow understanding of a liberal is reduced to the degree of his/her sexual awareness. Moreover, many of those who claim sexual liberalism contradict their own views when confronted with cases that goes in harmony with the definition of liberalism and touches sensitive issues about their personal life. For many people, claiming sexual liberalism is nothing but a tool of seduction and a technique of self marketing as a civilized person with an open mind.
As one can tell, the concept of liberalism is an evolutionary concept that requires certain maturity level and a clear understanding of what is going on around. Every single word in the definition mentioned has different interpretations and has led to the development of the rule of law worldwide and specifically in the civilized world.
However, this word is repeated by many people in our society and mentioned under the political view of so many facebook users without really giving this word a good clear thought. Yes, the concept of liberalism versus conservatism can be place or time dependent This means, one could be conservative in the US and liberal in Lebanon but this only happens if some views have developed further in one place and still at late stages in another. This also means that one can have a positive opinion about something till a certain limit and a negative opinion about the same thing if that thing reached the limit that one has already determined. Also, one doesn't have to be completely liberal or completely conservative where one can actually pick and choose from the two concepts that best fit his/her way of life as long as no contradiction arises at any point. However, trying to cling to one concept has the serious price of really understanding the deep definition.
Unfortunately, the whole discussion about liberalism in Lebanon is reduced to sexual liberalism which I also believe is a real scam. Forget about gay rights, women rights, pro-life/pro-choice, free trade, small government/ big government, etc... The people's narrow understanding of a liberal is reduced to the degree of his/her sexual awareness. Moreover, many of those who claim sexual liberalism contradict their own views when confronted with cases that goes in harmony with the definition of liberalism and touches sensitive issues about their personal life. For many people, claiming sexual liberalism is nothing but a tool of seduction and a technique of self marketing as a civilized person with an open mind.
