*You may be thinking more of libertarians or even anarchists here.
The conservatives I know would define their philosophy more in terms of avoiding sweeping centralized attempts at solutions to social problems, while liberals would see a much wider scope for governmental intervention.
A conservative says, “I want this, is it right?”
A liberal says, “I want this, therefore it’s right.”
You’re joking, right? The Bush administration has been an exercise in “I want this, therefore it’s right.” Actually, every administration works on that basis.
Here’s another one:
Conservatives: “It’s good for me, therefore it’s good for America.”
Liberals: “It’s good for America, therefore it’s good for you.”
Both are catastrophically wrong.
It’s not just about change. Change can be for the better, or for the worse.
Would a conservative be opposed to a change for the better?
Would a liberal advocate a change for the worse?
No, that’s not it.
Well, that’s debatable. I have a feeling that if the Bush administration did everything it thought was right it would be doing much more than it is doing now.
But be that as it may, I was speaking ideology, not this or that individual.
Why bother placing yourself in either category if you don’t actually belong in it?
As long as we’re tossing random speculation out here:
Liberal: “We must hang together, or we shall surely hang separately.”
Conservative: “I’ve got mine, so screw you!”
What aspects of conservativism and liberalism, either in theory or in practice, lead you to believe that conservatives are more given to reflection on their own values, or that liberals are less so?
About fifty IQ points, I’d say.
I think that when I originally posted this, it was in response to a similarly simplistic OP stereotyping Republicans and Democrats, but it is equally useful here.
Conservatives: “I’ve got mine”.
Liberals: “We want yours.”
The problem I get with the Liberal/Conservative divide is
Liberals don’t do much liberating and
Conservatives don’t conserve much.
The words are little more than flags on two very similar political parties in America, the Republicans and the Democrats. Having little meaning left of their own.
“Democrats are also the partyof government activism, the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller and get the chickweed out of your lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work, and then they get elected and prove it.”
Not quite Liberals vs Conservatives, but close enough for government work.
In which direction?
I always liked Dave Barry’s explanation, which is:
If you’re broken down by the side of the road, a Democrat (liberal) would stop to help you, but manage to set your car on fire. A Republican (conservative) would have all the know-how and tools to fix your car, but would ignore you because he was late for Ugly Pants Night at the country club.
Conseratives are dicks and Liberals are pussies.
The pussies are needed to keep the dicks in line, and the dicks are needed to protect the pussies from assholes.
Nevermind, I think I’m doing it wrong.
You’re pretty close, actually.
“Liberal” is a label that was invented as a shortcut to avoid the necessity of actual thought.
Its synonym is “conservative.”
Thomas Szasz once made a pretty good case - at least to my young mind - that the conservative/liberal distinction was based on a paternalistic vs. maternalistic view of government. Liberals saw government as a nuturing, caring entity while conservatives saw it as more of an authoritarion figure that expected you to take care of yourself. Or something like that.
Might want to try reading the whole thread before posting in it…