What are the key principles of modern American liberalism as it has evolved in the Al Gore, Obama, Clooney era

Question

Are these principles well suited to meeting the challenges of people trying to survive the next 50 years?

Answer 1

Clooney?  Can you be more specific?  I'd start with common sense... its severely lacking over the past 8 years.

Answer 2

American Liberalism looks at politics from a collectivist perspective; basically, that everything should be fair. Traditionally, the liberals have been the ones backing equality legislation for race and sexual orientation. They also favor collectivist economics that involve focusing on social help programs.

In contrast, the Conservatives operate on an individualistic principle. Essentially, everyone is entitled to their own property. This causes a belief in small government (in terms of economic spending) and very few social programs, if any. It also tends to correlate with a preference of state's rights over Federal rights.

The question is, which of these are suited to the challenges of the next 50 years? It's hard to say; both have their disadvantages. The biggest issue are the wide-scope planetary problems that are essentially new. Global warming, pollution, etc are issues that have never been dealt with before, and it seems to me that it would be liberal politics that would have the best influence on these. After all, Conservatives tend to support deregulation, which increases pollution.

Even if someone doesn't believe in global warming (I'm not really sure how it's a belief, because it's scientifically verifiable, but to each his own), pollution is still a massive problem. There are cities where the air is clogged with smog, causing a huge health and environmental risk. The liberals would spend money on these issues, which would be the most forward-thinking thing to do in this case.

I usually consider myself a moderate, but the time has come where individualistic "take all you can get" economic/social/environmental policies have to end. We can't keep pumping chemicals into the air due to relaxed environmental standards until every city in America is choked in smog.