Boy, you ask big questions.
I only have 10 mins!
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Originally Posted by devilskitchen
From the Policies page.
So, liberals believe in freedom except where that is the freedom to keep what you earn.
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The full sentence you've quoted from says:
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Liberals aim to spread wealth and power and to ensure that everyone has access to food, clothing, shelter, education, health care and the protection of the law.
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This sentence is in two halves:
As regards the 'spread of wealth' bit, this can be achieved to a degree without taking money away from one set of people to give to another set, by spreading the opportunities for people to earn. Think of Thatcher's encouragement of a shareowning democracy, think of a better regulative environment for entrepreneurs and so on. However, the Libs do also believe in redistributive taxation of some sorts - though not excessive or punitive taxation. In this respect they are to the left of UKIP with its flat tax policy (was that ever adopted, by the way?)
As regards the second half, in common with almost every other political party including UKIP (but maybe not the Libertarians?) the Liberals support government provision of welfare services, which therefore necessarily involves taxation. Ensuring freedom
from starvation, homelessness, ignorance etc therefore plainly involves a limited infringement of people's freedom
to spend all their own money as they see fit.
I reckon it would be great if we could provide all those necessary goods (food, clothing, shelter, education, health care and the protection of the law) entirely from voluntary charitable efforts, to help those people genuinely unable to provide them for themselves. I think we should do our best to move towards that but failing that, I think some taxation is necessary.
Incidentally, note further down the same page of policies that:
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Liberals are a FREE TRADE POLITICAL PARTY.
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