Define LIBERAL, CONSERVATIVE, and PROGRESSIVE.?

Question

It is often said that some one is a liberal, a conservative or a progressive. Define each term, in so far as that term relates to an individual person.

What might be similarities and differences between liberals and progressives?

Answer 1

The essential difference is that while they both want change, liberals want progressive change while conservatives want retrogressive change. Examples; Conservatives are in favor of censoring obscenity, so things can be like how they were many years ago. Liberals are in favor of stem cell research, so we can benefit from modern advances in the future.

In my opinion, progressive is preferable to retrogressive.

Answer 2

Progressive is the new term Liberals use, since the neo-conservatives have successfully turned the term "liberal" into a negative. So they're essentially the same (except in the minds of certain cliquish left wingers who feel the need to differentiate themselves from each other).

Conservative means no change. It is a grounding in reality, it is what keeps you from quitting your job to go catch butterflies all day.

Liberal means change. It is the urge to make things better, but sometimes without regard to consequences or whether what you want is actually real or not.

But here's the dirty little secret: No one is purely conservative, no one is purely liberal. That's a false dichotemy created by the politicians of today as a way to try to convince their base to side solely with them and never, ever, under any circumstances, vote for anyone from the other side, even if their own side nominates Charles Manson or Koko the signing ape.

For example, you can be fiscally conservative (the quaint notion that perhaps before spending money, you ought to have it, and if you don't have it, you ought not to spend it) while at the same time socially liberal (like, say, wondering how exactly it affects you at all what two completely separate consenting adults choose to do in the privacy of their own bedroom).

And it is a continuum. You can be moderately conservative on an issue or extremely conservative. You can be moderately liberal or extremely liberal.

This whole idea that everyone must fall exactly into either "Liberal" or "Conservative" buckets is ludicrous and false, and just leads to people on both sides making statements about the other side that would be laughably comical, if the people making them didn't believe them so vehemently and were not so absolutely sure that the other side was evil, misguided and had nothing of value to offer society.

Conservative principles keep you going to work, because the job you really wanted as a child (rock star) doesn't work out for large percentages of the people who try it. Liberal principles kick you in the butt and make you finally decide to leave a bad job or a bad relationship, because things get bad enough that it's worth making the change.

Two sides of one coin. Both necessary. If you believe anything else, you need to spend some time in deep meditative contemplation.

Answer 3

a liberal is one who wants positive change. A conservative is one
who wants negative stagnation. A progressive is one who wants
positive change. So there are similarities between liberals and progressives. However, "liberal" is really just the sock puppet straw man conservatives use to pretend that they have an enemy. Progressives are actually really smart people who see that there are simple solutions to make the world a better place.

Conservatives and liberals are really both the same thing but
two ends of one spectrum; noisy proapgandists drowning out
sanity, reality, truth, knowledge, or science. Progressives are the only good guys of the three.

Answer 4

I'm not aware of any particular differences between "liberal" and "progressive." They favor progress, particularly in the area of individual personal liberty. "Conservative" denotes a desire to preserve things the way they are (or used to be), sort of anti-progress but pro-tradition. You didn't ask about libertarians, which favor liberty in all areas. That puts them with liberal/progessives on issues of liberty in the most important areas of personal life (morality, religion, expression), and with conservatives on liberty in financial and property matters.

Answer 5

Liberals believe in big government. Conservatives believe in small government.

Answer 6

Conservatives: think they are rich...............

Liberals: say they work for the poor.........

Progressives: do nothing but take all the credit when something is done...........

Answer 7

A liberal is some one who is so open minded their brains fell out.

Answer 8

Main Entry: 1lib·er·al
Pronunciation: 'li-b(&-)r&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin liberalis suitable for a freeman, generous, from liber free; perhaps akin to Old English lEodan to grow, Greek eleutheros free
1 a : of, relating to, or based on the liberal arts b archaic : of or befitting a man of free birth
2 a : marked by generosity : OPENHANDED b : given or provided in a generous and openhanded way c : AMPLE, FULL
3 obsolete : lacking moral restraint : LICENTIOUS
4 : not literal or strict : LOOSE
5 : BROAD-MINDED; especially : not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms
6 a : of, favoring, or based upon the principles of liberalism b capitalized : of or constituting a political party advocating or associated with the principles of political liberalism; especially : of or constituting a political party in the United Kingdom associated with ideals of individual especially economic freedom, greater individual participation in government, and constitutional, political, and administrative reforms designed to secure these objectives
- lib·er·al·ly /-b(&-)r&-lE/ adverb
- lib·er·al·ness noun
synonyms LIBERAL, GENEROUS, BOUNTIFUL, MUNIFICENT mean giving or given freely and unstintingly. LIBERAL suggests openhandedness in the giver and largeness in the thing or amount given . GENEROUS stresses warmhearted readiness to give more than size or importance of the gift . BOUNTIFUL suggests lavish, unremitting giving or providing . MUNIFICENT suggests a scale of giving appropriate to lords or princes .


Main Entry: 1con·ser·va·tive
Pronunciation: k&n-'s&r-v&-tiv
Function: adjective
1 : PRESERVATIVE
2 a : of or relating to a philosophy of conservatism b capitalized : of or constituting a political party professing the principles of conservatism : as (1) : of or constituting a party of the United Kingdom advocating support of established institutions (2) : PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE
3 a : tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions : TRADITIONAL b : marked by moderation or caution c : marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste, elegance, style, or manners
4 : of, relating to, or practicing Conservative Judaism
- con·ser·va·tive·ly adverb
- con·ser·va·tive·ness noun

Main Entry: 1pro·gres·sive
Pronunciation: pr&-'gre-siv
Function: adjective
1 a : of, relating to, or characterized by progress b : making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities c : of, relating to, or constituting an educational theory marked by emphasis on the individual child, informality of classroom procedure, and encouragement of self-expression
2 : of, relating to, or characterized by progression
3 : moving forward or onward : ADVANCING
4 a : increasing in extent or severity b : increasing in rate as the base increases
5 often capitalized : of or relating to political Progressives
6 : of, relating to, or constituting a verb form that expresses action or state in progress at the time of speaking or a time spoken of
- pro·gres·sive·ly adverb
- pro·gres·sive·ness noun

Answer 9

Are you asking fiscally, morally, religiously.....?