When did the definitions of Liberal and Conservative get so warped?

Question

Well, I enjoy sitting on the fence. I get to see what happens on both sides without having my view blocked.

Answer 1

Polarization. Thanks to the extreme religious right who stand for larger government instead of the usual small government. (Telling people what to believe and who to love and who not to.) Also equally thanks to the extreme left who insults anything conservative and refuse to listen to anyone for fear of maybe being proved wrong.

They're both equally at fault. I'm not saying they've just appeared here in the last few years. They're just more prominant here recently.

Answer 2

I think it has something to do with the way politics is more a media marketing campaign than any genuine ideas or debate.

It also has something to do with the way anyone who has views that are sometimes left and sometimes right cannot get into either party in any power role due to the perceived 'weakness' or 'radicalism' or 'fence sitting'.

Further, most people seem to think that there are only two views on any subject. It makes things easier for idiots, of which there are many!

EDIT

My view tends to be extremely liberal initially, but with freedoms being removed if people cannot behave well in society. Essentially, I envisage a society that provides welfare, not just subsistence, but proper housing and food for all its people, such that any misbehaviour cannot be blamed on poverty, poor childhood etc. Basically, look after everyone, but if they cant come to the party, you remove them from society. They get chances to return, but their liberty is progressively removed. If someone shows no interest in being part of the society, then, ultimately, there should be provision to execute them. Why bother locking someone up for life if they have shown time and time again that they do not wish to participate? The detail is too much to describe here, but you get the overall idea. Extreme left, and then extreme right. Why not?

Answer 3

I don't know if there is a definite start to this phenomenon, but I believe is is the extremes of both the right and left that has, as you so aptly put it, "warped" the definitions.
And it's the extreme left and right positions that seem to get all of the press. (More interesting stories, I guess - after all, the ratings seem to be more important than the actual news.)
It follows that, sooner or later, people would generally start to equate these stories with the meanings of "conservative" and "liberal."

Answer 4

when the religious extremist right, started to declare,"You are either with us or against us" thus denouncing anyone WHO once was conservative as liberal if they did not completely agree with every issue as the fanatics.
at that point everything that did not agree on every issue by default was bashed as liberal thought.
extremist left-wingers retaliated with bashing just about everything the right stands for, while non-freaky-fanatics, are stuck in the middle getting slammed as liberal by the religious right, and being slammed for being conservatives by the fanatic left.
these actually started to emerge when corporations started to force the view on the public that:
- organizations where responsible, and promoted the acts of extremist radicals that did things that injured people, even though they do not.
-peaceful activists are the enemy no matter what their message is
-protesting and whistle-blowing is anti-american

one groups completely buys into this illogic, and the other doesn't

in other words, it is the collective denial of logic by both extremist ends of the political spectrum. probably occur ed with the emergence of the Neo-con and Neo-lib movements that pretended to be more understanding of the others plight, by accepting a little bit, but being more extremist in regards to the beliefs of their own respective power groups.
the people who do not fall into the fringe extremist ends of the spectrum's(or the majority) even being liberal or conservative have more in common than they do with their own extremist versions.

like all extremist movements, they'll end up destroying themselves, as the majority get sick of their extremist views..

Answer 5

When either side figured out they could use it to their advantage.

I credit Reagan with the first use of the word liberal like it was a curse word.

Answer 6

great question. i have no idea, but i believe the extreme definitions of these groups is used to divide the population and keep them distracted from the issues we all have in common.

keep the populace riled up and divided so they don't start thinking.

Answer 7

When Labour started telling untruths about them and virtually everything else.

It is called 'spin' and media manipulation.