The escape from "the liberal-conservative paradigm"

I came across this article via The Daily Dish. It makes a wonderful point about the shifts the country is seeing regarding policy opinions. Many would assume that we are moving mostly left, and we are in a lot of ways. But we are also shifting right in others. During the election it became apparent that many people considered themselves, "fiscally conservative and socially liberal". If I could describe the ideal America that would be exactly what I would say. This author describes it as the escape from "the liberal-conservative paradigm".

Some excerpts:

"There’s encouraging news in recent polls about two civil liberties issues — marriage equality and marijuana legalization...

...These developments have led Andrew Sullivan and CBS News to speculate about a “tipping point” for change — at last — in marijuana prohibition. Just this week, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said there should be a major study of the possibility of legalization...

...Meanwhile, TPM and AOL’s PoliticsDaily also see a tipping point for marriage equality...

...By the way, that much-discussed ABC/Post poll also showed declining support for gun control...

...Those of us who have escaped the liberal-conservative paradigm recognize that the right to bear arms is also a civil liberty, and it’s entirely consistent to support marriage equality, marijuana legalization, and the Second Amendment.

The “shift to the left” that we seem to observe on economic policy is depressing to libertarians. But that’s mostly crisis-driven. When the results of more spending, more taxes, more regulation, and more money creation begin to be visible, we may see the kind of reaction that led to Proposition 13 and the election of Ronald Reagan at the end of the 1970s. Meanwhile, this cultural “shift to the left” is far more encouraging. And don’t forget, at 90 days into the Obama administration, Americans preferred smaller government to “more active government” by 66 to 25 percent."

Now, I'm all for both the Right and the Left to ditch the extreme and focus on the good ideas each side undeniably has, the socially conservative (because we all have to live together) and the fiscally conservative (because we can't make our own decisions about our social lives if we're not free to make our decisions about our financial ones).