CONSERVATIVES ONLY: What's the difference between a liberal and a conservative?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Convservatives generally believe in law and order while Liberals believe that everything should be a free for all. Witness this thread.

Many of the arguments I’ve seen here that attempt to describe conservatives can be shot down by some conservative legislation.

Conservatives have a broader definition of who the working people are and what constitutes middle class. While they may see a family of four making $100K a year as normal, a liberal could call them wealthy and refer to any tax savings applied to them as “tax cuts for the rich”.

22

How about we avoid any ad hominem responses, eh?
My reading comprehension skills are fine. I think it was my innate resistance to exclusivity and, indeed, to the word ‘only’ that prompted me to respond. I’ll apologize if that will help: I’m sorry I butted into the club.

23

Sorry - but another rulebreaking liberal butting in here where I’m not welcome.

I think the very term conservative is somewhat problematic (Liberal somewhat less so, but also far from perfect). I do not believe “conservatism” describes a single perspective across a panorama of issues. There can be:
fiscal conservatives;
small government conservatives;
law and order conservatives;
strong defense conservatives;
moral conservatives;
etc.
But it often strikes me as difficult for these various “conservatisms” to enmesh. As an example, without arguing whether one or the other is right or wrong, I have a hard time reconciling belief in limited government with a desire to legislate a woman’s control of her body, or impose school prayer. Or fiscal responsibility and limited government with this new federal department or (at least some) deficit defense spending.

I’m not sure, but it seems to me that “liberal” issues are less prone to such inconsistency.

And, maybe laziness is an attribute of THIS liberal, but to avoid dragging back to the other thread, on some level, many conservative economic positions strike me as somewhat selfish on behalf of people who already have things pretty good, or suggest a desire to force one’s personal preferences upon others.

Whereas liberal positions may be somewhat more concerned with constituencies that are less able to look out for themselves.

24

Just an interesting note ::please don’t read too much into this::

As of this posting, I find that while this thread has attracted a few cross-over posts, the ‘Liberals Only’ thread has none.

Just a little factoid.

25

We’re God’s favorite.

26

I’d suggest your “little factoid” is in some ways very relevant.

Just as I believe the designations “conservative” and “liberal” are flawed, and obscure at least as well as they explain, the segregation of this complex issue into discrete threads minimizes the likelihood of communication or enlightenment.

Communication is least likely to occur when complex issues are misrepresented as being either black or white. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of public discourse - both liberal and conservative - occurs at the most simplistic jingoistic level.

27

>the segregation of this complex issue into discrete threads minimizes the likelihood of communication or enlightenment.
I agree with you wholeheartedly, Dinsdale, but I didn’t take that as the goal of this thread, at least, not enlightenment of the general populace.
I understood this more as a personal interest by Hey You! into the inner workings of the conservative psyche.
He knows what Liberals think about conservatives, I just thought he wanted the other side, that’s all.

::shrugs::

28

Thanks XJETGIRLX,
I also agree with Dinsdale, and you nailed my hopes and intentions right on.

29

What does it mean to be conservative?

It means believing people have to be responsible for their own fate. Allowing maximum freedom from government interference, but on the other side of the coin, requiring that they accept responsibility for what they have done.

Is there anything you don’t like about other conservatives?

I don’t like the general knee-jerk pro-big-business trend when in fact people often do need government protection from certain aspects of big business practices.

What is your perception of liberals?

That liberals are against personal responsibility. It seems to be a current that runs through many liberal positions, from unlimited welfare to opposition to the death penalty to abortion on demand.

Is there anything you like about liberals?

I appreciate the fact that liberals of old are responsible for many of the rights and equalities that we take for granted today.

30

As a libertarian, I am conservative on government and fiscal issues and liberal on social ones.

I believe that small governments with low taxes provide for the people far far better than large governments with high taxes. This has been born out in history many times.
I believe that central planning does not work, that letting the individual plot their own destiny and both reap the rewards and feel the failures causes the individual to grow.
I believe that the people are equal only in that they all have the chance to succeed or fail, and before the law you are equal in that no one is above the law. You have the chance to improve yourself, and rise to the challenges before you, and the government trying to give one group special dispensation A) lessens what they do manage to achive, and B) in the long run, destroys them.
I believe that to help those who need it, must come from the heart of the giver, a personal action, something that can not come from a government (Where it wrongly becomes an ‘entitlement’) or as something induced (I have only once taken a tax deduction for a charitible act, and that was because I was unemployed at the time and needed every cent. Other than that, I never have, and hopefully never will have to again.)
Big businesses can be a problem, but where such businesses must compete with smaller ones, the smaller ones generally win out, competition works wonders, and improves everyones lot in the end. Currently much of our tax structures ment to reign in large businesses, actually help them since the smaller businesses can not sustain the expenses, and as such, can not create that competition. It is like putting two men in a boxing ring, one large, slow and ungainly, and the other fast and well trained, but then tying the legs and arms behind the back of the smaller one.

Like elfkin477, I dislike the religous right co-opting the conserviatives, much as I loathe the socialists who have co-opted the liberals. But of the two, the constitution at least dampens the acts of the religious right, there is little to stop the damage of the socialist left.

I agree with many liberal stances on social issues, because I hold the individual sacrosanct, and their stance on certain issues reflect that to some extent. I agree with the idea that what two consenting adults do is between them and only them save when it causes the breaking of a prior responsibility (Such as when one of them is married, adultery is a breaking of a contract of responsibilty.) An individuals privacy is of utmost importance, as is the right to say what one wants to, but not forcing anyone to listen (The liberal record on this of late however is rather spotty, thanks to such ideas as ‘hate speech’ laws.)

I feel that both sides of the issue really need to start remembering that they work not for the government, but for an idea that is recorded in the Constitution. They need to remember that over all other things, in leading other, integrity is by far the most important virtue. And both sides better start paying attention to the law of unintended consiquences.

31

I was a member of the party for about a year, then let my membership lapse.

I disagree with them on unrestricted immgration as well as no control on coperate entities.

And at the moment, I’m broke.

32

I’m definately more conservative than liberal, but I don’t believe this. I’d say that it was Bush caving in to some big contributors, rather than this illustrating a defining characteristic of conservatives.

What is your perception of Liberals?

I’d say that hard-core Liberals seem to think that wealthy people keep their money under the mattress, thereby making the money unspendable and available to other people at all.

While I could NEVER spend some of the money that you see in cases of Elton John’s reported 400 pairs of eyeglasses, remember that every expensive thing bought was made by someone else. The money flowed “downhill”, and helped provide jobs along the way.

Remember under Bush Sr, when there was a huge luxury tax on things like large yachts? Who were the people who complained the loudest? Not the people who put off their yacht purchases, but the blue-collar craftsmen whose business plunged.

I’d say that another thing LIBERAL (really liberal) people tend to do is see a bad situation and automatically think, “Wow, the government really needs to get involved here.”

LIBERAL people also seem to have a hitch in their logic, it seems to me, in regard to money distribution. They really want people to have good jobs, but seemingly inherently resent the kinds of cash pools that allow large investment to start businesses that create those jobs. Having large cash at your disposal is somehow just plain wrong, and taxes MUST be levied to rectify the situation.

I recently heard some Iraq-USA war protestor shout into a tv camera, “War is NEVER the answer!” Well, I’m glad you weren’t president in 1941. Is she serious?

What don’t you like about other Conservatives?

A knee-jerk conformity to an ideology, regardless of what the other arguments are. I see it in the church all the time. There is a “correct” answer, and people questioning the party line are in danger of being put out of the group.

Is there anything you like about Liberals?

An automatic thought about the consequences in human terms, not just fiscal.

33

**What does it mean to be conservative? **
Well as a conservative libertarian, I would define my politically philosophy as a belief that…

  • your particular station in life is primarily a function of choices you have made.
  • you are responsible for your own actions.
  • you do not have a right to any material items or comforts.
  • You do not have a right to covet your neighbor’s property (i.e. high taxes are immoral)
  • government is the servant, not the master.
  • rights are inalienable.
  • every person is sovereign.
  • God exists.

**Is there anything you don’t like about other conservatives? **
Yes. Too many are “arm chair” conservatives, i.e. they do not know how to get up off their asses and fight.

**What is your perception of liberals? **
Modern day liberals are simply Marxists, whether they know it or not.

**Is there anything you like about liberals? **
Many know how to fight. I admire that.

34

Crafter Man stole my thunder.

To be a conservative is to take control of your life and be such an example to others. No walking around with the hands out hoping someone will give me something. If Im ever fortunate to become wealthy (because of my own hard work) I would kindly insist that the gov. stays out of my pockets. I respect those who have made it big and frown upon the gov. interfering in their lives. Laziness should not be rewarded. Those who work hard should be rewarded. There is no such thing as someone who cant succeed. Everyone is born with the same opportunities, some just have to try harder than others. We should be tougher on criminals, we should tax less and more fairly, we need smaller gov. with a smaller budget, the gov. should be afraid of the people not the other way around. Christian morals need to be maintained. An abortion should be much harder to get. People need to stand up for themselves rather than let some agenda influenced lobbyist idiot do it for them.

Is there anything you don’t like about other conservatives?
They are afraid to stand up and take on the issues.

What is your perception of liberals?
Too many of them follow their “leaders” down the wrong path.
They can`t logically follow through with their beliefs (too much feelgoodism, not enough common sense).
They are well organized, and never give up.

Is there anything you like about liberals?
I think some are genuinely concerned about others.
They just don`t reallize that the gov. is not the way to fix things.

35

Liberals: the world should be this magical way.

Conservatives: the world IS THIS WAY, let’s deal with it.

36

How to explain conservatism to your squishy liberal friends

Is there anything you don’t like about other conservatives?

Our extremists are scary.

What is your perception of liberals?

Interestingly enough my perception of liberals has dropped dramatically as I’ve been posting to this board. Liberalism is like Sainthood. Most people just can’t pull it off and shouldn’t try.

Is there anything you like about liberals?

I don’t think they have any common trait to like or dislike other than as individuals, which is how I form my opinions about people.

37

I was joking, hence the smilie. I’ve knowed lots of liberals who is good readers.

38

Hmmm. Back when I was an activist in the Libertarian party, I observed that the difference between Anarchists and Libertarians seemed to be about 10-grand a year. Make that 20 now, to allow for inflation.

DD

39

Conservatives are born knowing what it takes liberals their whole lives to find out.