[Buddha-l] Buddhism and Politics

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Tue, 2005-07-26 at 21:06 -0400, Bernie Simon wrote:
> Dr. Hayes wrote:
> 
> > That's why we all have no honest alternative to being
> > liberal.

> I'll assume this is a joke.

Bad assumption. I was quite serious, but perhaps my wording was
ambiguous. I was using the word "liberal" in the sense of generosity of
spirit and tolerance of diversity. I see the word "liberal" in this
sense as an expression of the brahma-vihaaras. I certainly did not mean
it in the sense of letting commercial interests have free rein, nor in
the sense of having an unregulated global economy, which is how many
Europeans use it (as when European newspapers routinely described Ronald
Reagan as an ultra-liberal). And I obviously did not mean "liberal" in
the derogatory sense that American neo-conservatives have given it.

-- 
Richard Hayes