Eww, look! It's a liberal!

Why is the term "self-loathing" so often paired with the term "liberal"?

Is this really what people believe? I think liberals are in fact very much the oppposite of self-loathing. Find me a liberal who doesn't love their fellow man. A prerequisite for loving your fellow man is, of course, loving yourself. Now, not every liberal is going to be a people person (not everyone is) but we do share a common belief (I think): by looking out for each other with the best intentions, we look out for ourselves. But it's not about selfishness, it's about understanding what the GREATER GOOD really is. And that is: the survival of mankind. You may say, "geez, it's not THAT serious!" But it really is. How can people continue to oppress each other and call it "moral?" What is this kind of morality you speak of? It doesn't sound very moral to me. It's moral to treat others as you would want to be treated, so why is it okay to ignore that when it comes to civil rights of any kind?

I'm registered as a Democrat, but I feel like an Independent. However, I wanted to be able to vote in the primaries of my antiquated state, so there you have it. It really irritates me when I hear/read people lumping each other into neat little categories like conservative and liberal, but I understand why they do it, and it does serve a purpose. And of course I'm guilty of doing it myself. Personally, I consider myself a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. But it seems so many people feel you cannot be both. Actually, I think most people in this country are fiscal conservatives--especially right now in light of our economic crisis. So what this leaves me with is that we are a country divided by social liberty issues. The so-called "moral" issues like gay marriage, abortion, drugs, etc.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if we agreed to disagree on those social issues, just for the sake of experiment? Does anyone truly think society would fall to pieces?

Any worse than it is right now?