With the high frequency encountering the labels of Conservative and Liberal in nowadays political affairs, would anyone render some precise defintions for these two groups of people? It sure helps.
If you like to be controlled by God, you're a conservative. If you like to be controlled by Washington, you're a liberal.
If you like to be controlled by God, you're a conservative. If you like to be controlled by Washington, you're a liberal.
If you like to be controlled by God, you're a conservative. If you like to be controlled by Washington, you're a liberal.
The above message is from a CONSERVATIVEIf you believe that the primary provider of your own safety ,wants and needs is you yourself you are generally conservative. If you believe that the government is, then you are a liberal
The above message is from a VERY LIBERALA liberal thinks government can be a force for good in society, and has a responsibility to do so. A conservative thinks the government is a necessary evil and should do the minimum possible.
I stopped trying to define these things a long time ago. I have a general idea of what they are but once you put individual people into the equation the meanings vary a lot. I frankly am tired of boxed in labels. I just say what I want and could care less where it falls on either side of the aisle, or if I'm even standing in the aisle in the first place. :shock:
Humans do enjoy their factionistic ways though, so by all means, define away!
Pro said:Redress: A liberal thinks government can be a force for good in society, and has a responsibility to do so.
TurtleDude: If you believe that the primary provider of your own safety ,wants and needs is you yourself you are generally conservative.
Con said:TurtleDude: If you believe that the government is [the primary provider of your own safety,wants and needs], then you are a liberal.
Redress: A conservative thinks the government is a necessary evil and should do the minimum possible.
Don't forget Libertarians, they like to be controlled by Ron Paul.
Poliwog? Snaglepus?
Replace Liberal/Conservative with the two named organisms. Does it change anything? Nope. Exactly.
The terms mean nothing here anymore. Especially when wankers define them how they so please.
This is a tricky one, and something I've actually spent a lot of time thinking about. The truth is that you can't find one good, all-encompasing definition for either of the terms; but that doesn't mean they are completely without meaning.
"Conservative" has traditionally been used to describe people favoring a strict adherence to, well, tradition. (Not the status quo, or else Roe v Wade would be a lot more popular.) In places like the Middle East, this might mean favoring Islamism; but in the United States, the "tradition" goes back to the Founding Fathers. Since these were a pretty classical liberal bunch, traditionalist conservatism has become tied to (classical) liberal conservatism (sort of like libertarianism without the Heinlein). Conservatism means small government and free markets for liberals, traditional values and societal structures for traditionalists, and adherence to the Constitution and DoI for both. It could also be all of the above for either, and often is. People can come to the same conclusions through many different methods. Conservatives don't even have to be either traditionalists or classical liberals.
"Liberal" is a bit tricker. One thing I've noticed most of them have in common is a disdain for imperfect conditions - war, poverty, etc. Conservatives and others will write these off as necessary evils, as will to a smaller extent many liberals... but through one way or another, there's always a solution of some sort. I'd probably split it up into two main groups: elitist liberals (no derogatory connotations intended) and populist liberals. Elitists tend to view the main cure of the world's problems as via the powerful, coercive force of a large central government. Since unregulated masses can't take care of themselves enough to not have poverty and violence, they see the need for a group of intelligent, logical-minded elites to be smart where most people are stupid, and to make decisions for the masses that the masses, in their view, are incapable of making. Then there's populist liberals, who don't see the government as a place for elites to converge, but rather as an expression of the will of the people. In their view, it is a choice between government control and corporate control, so one might as well go for the one that is popularly elected. This is the more hippie side of liberals, which doesn't so much see an inherent need for bigger government as for an inherent need for people to change their ways. It's my opinion that the extreme of elitist liberalism is socialism, whereas the extreme of populist liberalism is communism.
Note that the above doesn't even begin to scratch the surface on this, and most of it is probably wrong (or worded imperfectly). It's a fascinating subject that frankly deserves more study than it gets.
The above message is from a CONSERVATIVE
The above message is from a VERY LIBERAL
It seems both messages define the other "ethnic" group pretty but contrastingly well; they both also have something in common: an evil label belongs to the other camp.
A conservative is someone who affixes the term "liberal" to anyone, or any point of view with which they disagree.
A liberal, on the other hand is someone who affixes the term "conservative" to anyone, or any point of view with which they disagree.
An extreme conservative is someone who thinks all of the ills of the world come from liberals, by which they mean, anyone with whom they disagree.
An extreme liberal, on the other hand, is someone who thinks all of the ills of the world come from conservatives, by which they mean, anyone with whom they disagree.
A conservative generally wants the government to be limited and to stay out of people's lives, except to define marriage, to outlaw abortion, continue the war on drugs, and maintain a strong enough military to police the rest of the world.
A liberal generally wants the government to stay out of people's lives, except to provide a social safety net to keep him out of trouble when he makes poor choices.
A liberal wants to continue illegal immigration, and offer amnesty, because he feels sorry for the illegals. A conservative, on the other hand, wants to continue illegal immigration because his constituency likes the cheap labor.
Conservatives like the Republican Party. Why is a mystery, as the Republican party is just as statist as the Democrats ever were. Liberals, on the other hand, like the Democrat Party, because they think the Republicans are conservatives.
There. That should clear the matter up.
You do have many good points.
some he missed-most extreme liberals tend to bash the rich and corporations more than conservatives. Most conservatives I know are against illegals due to crime, welfare and the fact that they often vote for liberals.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?