Could someone please, in an intelligent fashion, tell me what 'conservative' means in America?

Question

I see a lot of people claiming to be conservatives calling people stupid, saying that liberals don't live in reality etc. What does conservative mean, and what does liberal mean.

'In an intelligent fashion' means: actually describe it in a way that is neutral, and not "liberals are weak, conservatives are smarter". That would just be useless to me, and probably show that you aren't really very smart at all. Thanks for helping me out, Im in Australia, and find it hard to understand you guys sometimes!!!

To the person who said, "I'll keep it simple", please don't. I think there is a little too much simple going on!

Cheers. Conservativism is supposed to refer to respect for, and conservation of, political and social institutions that have been developed over the ages. Basically the view is that we should not disrupt or destroy these, as they are the fruits of civilisation and the result of hard work endeavour by past generations. Thus, it is not surprising that conservatives are 'old fashioned', and not progressive in political and social thought.

To me, it is also not surprising they are linked to the christian faith, who seem to have little faith in humans. They often attribute any good to god, instead of the person who did it. Similarly, conservatives seem to place faith in an overarching system rather than on individuals to make decisions based upon the unique complexities of a given crime, civil issue, family issue (abortion), euthanasia etc.

Answer 1

Well, that is what I have been trying to get to for some six years now. I've yet to see a viable definition. It seem to be a thing that is an alignment of Religious, and cultural views that you either are or are not, and there is no rational explanation for it. If you are not conservative then by default you are liberal. Kind of a screwed up logic.

Answer 2

I'll try to keep it simple. An American Conservative believes in keeping economic, political, and social matters unchanged from decade to decade. A Liberal is interested in dialog about everything and is open-minded about almost all topics. A Reactionary wants to see things taken back to an earlier era. And a Progressive wants to move forward on economic, political, and social matters. A Libertarian basically believes that Individual liberties are sacred. A Moderate wants some changes, only slowly and only in some areas.

Answer 3

Liberals are for lots of government control. The more liberal one is the closer to a socialist they are. Often times Liberals believe in more government programs to help the people and they're payed for by higher taxes.

Conservatives are the opposite. They believe in low low low taxes (usually flat meaning that the rich and hte poor pay the same) and people working on their own. They're usually pro-big business and more towards complete capitalism (no control on big-business) though rarely that far off the boat.

Idea-wise they both are plausible. They'd have to be, or else no one would believe in them. But online and off people have become polarized in the US. Conservatives and Liberals alike end up insulting eachother based on what side of the fence they're on. This is ridiculous, of course, and all I can say on the matter is that although I'm a liberal, I can't stand some of the liberal bickering and yelling and hypocritical insulting, and the same from the Conservatives.

This country can't be "Unified" as it used to be until people learn that differences in opinions is what makes this country great and that's just how it is. You won't get your way 100% of the time, deal with it.

{EDIT}

athene noctua was right also. Conservatives and Liberals have taken slightly new meanings. As he described Conservatives today are generalized as nationalistic (to a near DANGEROUS level), pro-business, and highly religious. Liberals have similar traits such as athiesm/anti-religion, closed-mindedness towards anything slightly conservative, hypocrasy in most debates, and I'm sure there's more.. you'd have to ask a more conservative person.

Answer 4

It means what Shiraz sent me:
THIS IS AN AMERICAN'S IDEA OF TRANSMITTING A CONSERVATIVE THOUGHT:


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From: "Wayne Johnson" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:59:28 -0400 (EDT)
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Answer 5

In theory, people that are conservative believe in smaller government so that more decisions are made by the individuals. Fiscally conservative meaning no wasteful spending and no huge pork belly budgets. And normally believe in Judeo/Christian morals and as a result are pretty tough view on crime and punishment.

Liberals tend to more open to government being a part of the peoples daily life an ex. would be the attempt to provide government healthcare. They are more open to spending as needed - keeping in mind that our last "liberal" president left us with billions in surplus revenue. And they are more open to the use of reform with crime and punsihment.

As you can tell that is certainly not happening with this so- called
conservative leader in office. Hope that helps.

Answer 6

In western democracies, 'conservative' and 'right-wing' are often used interchangeably, as near-synonyms. That is not always accurate, but it has more than incidental validity. Certainly the opposition is in both cases the same: the political left. (Although left-wing groups and individuals may have conservative social and cultural attitudes, they are not generally accepted, by self-identified conservatives, as part of the same movement). On economic policy and the economic system, conservatives and the right generally support the free market, although less so in Europe than in other places. Attitudes on some ethical and bio-ethical issues — such as opposition to abortion — are described as either 'right-wing' or 'conservative'.

Today the word "liberalism" is used differently in different countries. (See Liberalism worldwide.) One of the greatest contrasts is between the usage in the United States and usage in Continental Europe[15]. In the US, liberalism is usually understood to refer to modern liberalism, as contrasted with conservatism. American liberals endorse regulation for business, a limited social welfare state, and support broad racial, ethnic, and religious tolerance, and thus more readily embrace pluralism, and affirmative action. In Europe, on the other hand, liberalism is not only contrasted with conservatism and Christian Democracy, but also with socialism and social democracy. In some countries, European liberals share common positions with Christian Democrats.

Answer 7

Dear Jeremy D,

For outside world standards, "liberal" basically means left-wing and "conservative" means right-wing.

Liberals are likely to be in favour of increased taxes and government spending, suspicious of the business world and sceptical about religion, or more specifically about the influence of religion in the public sphere. In their stand on American identity, they tend to be strict integrationists and are often vocal supporters of religious and ethnic minorities. Finally, on the "moral" issues that tend to so fiercely divide American public opinion, liberals are generally against the death penalty and in favour of abortion.

Conservatives tend to be opposed to taxes and government spending. They are generally pro-business and place greater emphasis on religion, and often support the death penalty and oppose abortion allegedly on religious grounds. They tend to be more negative about immigration and racial issues than liberals, and often stand for the protection of what they see as a mainstream American identity which is primarily white, Christian and of Anglo-Saxon descent. Conservatives are generally in favour of a more aggressive foreign policy than liberals.

This is only a rough description, however, because these labels have been viciously caricatured in recent decades. The American political picture is in reality far more complex and nuanced, but the definitions of liberal and conservative have been corrupted and distorted by various political figures from all sides of the political spectrum (with the help of sympathetic media), for the sake of electoral gain.

Hope this helped,

Answer 8

Conservative in the US doesn't always mean the same as it did. At one time Conservatives were against big Government, did not invite Government intrusion into every aspect of our lives, were against fiscal irresponsibility, believed in a balanced budget. Were pro Bill Of Rights and anti Theocracy.
This is no longer the case; just the opposite, in fact. Many of them support a war created under false pretenses. And as of today, the Attorney General of the US will ask Congress to o.k.
legislation to force all Internet Providers to keep the data on all users and make it available to US agencies.
That is the state of conservatism in the USA.

Answer 9

Im a European and it mystifies me too.
It seems that conservative means Christian, pro business, against social security (they call it "living in luxury at our expense") very nationalist ("we are the greatest nation on earth"), believing in authority ("he might be wrong, but he is the president),and very intolerant of other peoples views (they managed to make "liberal" which means in favour of freedom, a hate word)

Answer 10

Conservative means different things to different people. In my view, a conservative generally believes in limited government, strong national defense, and state rights. Essentially a constitutional constructionist. That means they adhere to the principals espoused in the United States Constitution.