Politickin' and Guv'ment

I'm a weird middle of the road kind of person.  On one hand I dislike government interfering all over the place, but on the other hand, I recognize the need for some government.  I see myself and a Fiscal Conservative and a Social liberal.  But, do I really know what that means?

Thank you Wikipedia:

"Fiscal conservatism is a politicoeconomic philosophy with regard to fiscal policy and the advocating of fiscal responsibility. Fiscal conservatives advocate the avoidance of deficit spending, the reduction of overall government spending and national debt, and ensuring balanced budgets."

"Social liberalism is a political ideology that seeks to find a balance between individual liberty and social justice."

Okay then.  Yes.  that is totally me.  While I can dabble in ideas of Socialism and Communism, I think what I really most identify with is Liberalism.  But, nothing is absolute and labeling myself as anything, just never really fits.  I want to explore my views on a lot of topics and try to truly idenitfy where I stand on topics and why so that I can use that information in selecting candidates to vote for.  This is always hard for me, because few candidates hold my views and those who come the closest are usually some weirdo that only gets like 10 votes.

However, I have this blog and I think this might be a good place for me to study myself and my thoughts on these topics.  I have no readers, so I'm relatively safe from attacks and criticism, so it's like a little free place to think via keyboard.  maybe I'll end up with something constructive out of the process?

To start, I think that I need to identify what *I* think the purpose of government is.  I'm going to be honest here.  As I delve into my thoughts and studies on this topic... THIS MIGHT CHANGE.  But, today, when I am just starting this process, I see government as the following:

Government exists to protect and promote the health, welfare, and individual rights of its public and to provide for defense of our people and land, by prevention (diplomacy) and protection (military) from outsiders.  (according to Jennifer)

I'm going to explore what I have to say about how we're doing that, what I agree with and what I disagree with in our current United States.  So let me chew on that.