How do you know if you are liberal or conservative (democrat or republican)?

Question

I've always told people that I'm conservative. But when my friend asked me what's the difference I didn't know. I know I'm conservative and therefore republican. But what are the characteristics of each, and how can you tell which one you are? Thanks. I've been wondering for some time now.

Answer 1

Being a liberal is being a constitutionalists. It is that simple.

We believe in freedom of speech, separation of church and state, a person's right to bear arms, etc...

We believe in the Bill of Rights making all ppl equal and we believe that minorities should not be discriminated against.

We do NOT believe in majority rule or changing the constitution just because the majority says so.

We believe this country CORE value is the right of the ONE!

In more detail, here is why I am a 'liberal' democrat:

- I believe in war as a last resort or unless we or an ally have been attacked. IEs, Gulf War and Pearl Harbor
- I believe in UN support and if the UN is corrupt, instead of bailing on them, fix it.
- I believe we have a duty to pay our elderly social security because they paid those funds when they were working. That is like robbing them if we do not pay it back.
- I do not believe trickle down economics of Reagan, Bush Sr, and Bush Jr works. It never works. I believe in Clinton's economic system that is commonly referred to as Pay-As-You-Go.
- I believe in FDR's New Deal that the republican party has been trying to destroy piece by piece.
- I believe our social programs that keep families from living under bridges prevent us from becoming a 3rd world country.
- I believe in welfare but I also believe in Clinton's welfare reform where it is limited to 2 to 3 years in a lifetime. This prevents ppl from living on it their entire life; thereby, prevents welfare abuse.
- I believe in universal healthcare because a healthy nation is a powerful nation and also the pharmcy/insurance companies are corrupt.
- I believe in government regulation of monopolies such as power/energy, cable and telephone companies. Everytime the government deregulates these industries, they promise the price will go down but it never does... it always increases thereby increases the cost of living.
- I do not believe in making laws that violate constiutional rights... such as the Patriot Act or even seatbelt laws.
- I do not believe in making new laws everytime a problem arises; but rather, to fix the problem.
- I believe in gay marriage because gay ppl pay taxes too and heteorsexual couples should not be given special rights by the states just because they are straight. Otherwise take away those special rights and don't allow the state to recognize anyone's marriage.
- I believe in a woman's right to choose because just as the Supreme Court has ruled, a woman has a constitutional right to privacy over what happens to her body.
- I believe in the right to own a gun because it is a constitutional right.
- I believe in the constitution 110% and the liberties it allows each citizen.
- I am anti-illegal immigration because simply, they break the law by entering illegally.
- I believe in complete separation of church and state per the constitution and as interpreted by Thomas Jefferson who stated, "thus building a wall of separation between Church and State"
- I believe in SMALL GOVERNMENT in terms of big brother staying the hell out of my business. I've never participated in a census and refuse to. I am a LIBERAL and believe government has NO RIGHT to stick its nose in my business.

Answer 2

If you like the state it is in now, and you are a puppet to the "what you see is what you get" view, enjoy padding the pockets of a government that only benefits the wealthy, If you don't mind when "THEY" dismantle our Constitution, & turn this place into a facist country, socialist, country, then you are a neo-con Republican. If you are "for the people" , have oposing views, can keep a check on your Representatives, and how they voted in the house & then you are a Democrat. As far as I am concerned, in the next election, our choices will be worse than the last election. Research & Learn about your candidates. The information is still available while the internet is still kept free. The 2 party system is not working for us, they are working for the global elite toward the NEW WORLD ORDER. Type that into any search engine & see where we are headed. Scary. don't take the Microchip!
Refuse the National ID. They want to censor everything you do. Check out how it is in Britain.
All in the name of "national security, & "Terrorism". Blood for Oil. I'm not on either party, I'm waiting for an Independant to come along. But it won't matter, Kennedy was killed because he didn't go along with the "Global Elite" plan. Conspiracy theory? Nope, there are declassified documents, that any 12 year old could put the puzzle together. Have fun with it.

Answer 3

how do you know what you are if you don't know the difference?

i find a lot of people try and choose just once, but i don't think that works. every election is different because there are years between them and our priorities can and do change. that is one reason the term "flipflopper" shouldn't be an insult... it is not a sin to change your mind or your views on new evidence.

you will have to do research on your own to see which party resonates, but there isn't a difference that i can articulate briefly, all i can tell you is:
i'm a liberal because i don't like to be told what to do.
i'm not a conservative because they seem to want more control over people's personal lives.
i'm not a libertarian because i think government owes something to people in the form of services which requires taxes, which also makes me a liberal again.

this could all change at any time, the parties switched ideologies once already, but think about what really matters to you, and then it becomes far less confusing. but try not to rely on the names to mean much, each name encompasses people from fifty different states... a california conservative and a texas conservative don't generally have that much in common.

Answer 4

Someone who is politically conservative favors fewer government restrictions, especially on busninesses, and fewer taxes, especially for businesses. A conservative believes that this will create more jobs for more people. A politically liberal person favors more government restrictions on busniesses and more taxes upon businesses. A liberal believes that this will protect most people from being harmed by the very rich and that businesses should pay taxes for things like public education for children. This would enable more people to make more money. A socially conservative thinks that it is proper for society to stay the same, and a socially liberal person is in favor a new social developments such as equal opportunites for everyone.

Answer 5

this could be a huge post, but being a conservative does not mean a republican or with the liberal and demo thing either

Here it is summed up in what i can think of

socially, liberals want as much freedom as possible (normal libs, not these new neo-libs that are obsessed with PC)

fiscally conservatives want as much freedom as possible

Answer 6

there are usually the major issues of the day which put you mostly on one side or the other.

Conservative
1) capitalistic - giving from the heart of the people and not the government, like the BIBLE says
2}pro-life=a baby is precious
3)pro-family=a family is made of only one father and one mother.
4)pro-equal rights= equal meaning everyone is on equal ground and no one gets prefferred treatment even if they are black.

Liberal
1}socialistic= the government should help provide what you cannot
2)pro-choice= it is not a baby only a fetus. which in Latin means small child but do not tell them that.
3) pro-gay= gay should not be "disciminated against"
4}pro-minorities= minorities need more help on their own. they are little weaklings who cannot help themselves. they are
girlie-men
How is a female a minority= there is more of them then there is us...../////............/??????

Answer 7

Chris Rock has it right. Nobody is completely liberal or completely conservation. They have views on individual subjects that tend to be liberal or conservation.

[Chris Rock for President!.]

For example, I'm conservative when it comes to illegal drugs but liberal when it comes to prostitution.

Answer 8

I think you need to examine what each side "stands for", or what their platform is. You then look at which one you agree more with. Not many agree with every single thing each side believes, so it isn't totally odd for you to actually agree with a few items from the other side.

Answer 9

If you're a greedy jerk who doesn't care if babies starve to death if it means an extra $50 bucks in your pocket a year, then you're a conservative.

If you're a whiny jerk who thinks you should have a right to kill babies if they are an inconvenience in your life then you are a liberal.

Both liberals and conservatives hate babies. Be moderate, its the way to go.

Answer 10

If you like nascar, live in a trailer, have feelings for your brother or sister, and drive a Ford P.U. with a gun rack in the back window and a bible on the seat then you are repuglican. If you have common sense and want to help your fellow citizens, willing to go to work and pay taxes then you are a democrat.

Answer 11

Politicalcompass.org will tell you all of those things and more after a simple test. It will also tell you where you fall in comparison to other famous people.