To my conservative friends: why do you criticize liberals?

Question

I am a proud liberal and I love to hear the opinions of others.This is a friendly debate so my conservative friends are free to voice their opinions.

Nostradamus, this question is for conservatives.

Answer 1

Great question and I appreciate the spirit in which you asked.

I have no problem with liberals personally, I just wish all of their schemes didn't include me, my freedom and my wallet.

One of my problems with liberalism is coercion. The unique asset which Government has, unlike any other agency in our society, is the use of force or the threat of force. Think about it: if Wal-Mart, Best Buy or Kroger want my money, they have to use "persuasion." If the Government wants my money, there is nothing persuasive about it: it is the threat of force.

If Government wants me to pay for a war I disagree with, an educational system I don't like or a Social Security system I think is unconstitutional, they will throw me in jail if I don't pay my taxes. If I refuse to go to jail, they will use force to get me there. This is why George Washington said, "How soon we forget history...Government is not reason. Government is not eloquence. It is force. And, like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

Ted Turner, with all of his billions, cannot ruin me personally. Warren Buffet cannot strip me of my freedom. Bill Gates cannot seize my assets. George Soros cannot dispossess me of my house. Only Government can do these things.

When I enjoy any of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights, I do so without interfering with others. When liberals say, "there is a 'right' to healthcare," conservatives hear, "use force to seize Peter's assets and pay Paul." This is why you have probably heard many conservatives say, "'liberal' means being liberal with other people's money." I think this also encourages a parasitic mindset in our culture.

Everyone who lives must carry his own burden through life. The only way to escape this is by thrusting your burden upon someone else. This is a fine scheme as long as it is voluntary. Once a week I make sandwiches and drag heroin addicts, crack heads and alcoholics out from under bridges. I do this of my own volition. I choose to donate my own time and money. I find it rewarding. The point is that I am not forced or coerced in any way.

Furthermore, when liberals make sweeping, governmental decisions, who pays the cost when they are wrong? If a Wal-Mart manager makes the wrong decision, he bears some responsibility for the outcome. If a bureaucrat makes a wrong decision that hurts (say) farmers, he is none the worse for the decision being wrong. That means everybody else (in this case the farmers) has to pay for his decision.

Concisely, conservatives believe that you and I have the right to live our own lives as we see fit as long as we do not interfere with eachother's rights through force or fraud.

I could write more. My views skew more Libertarian. This isn't meant to convince you of anything, merely to let you know where we are coming from.

Answer 2

The reason why I don't care to much for Liberals is because they are taking to many of my freedoms away. they feel that everything is needed to be regulated and controled by the government. And well, that is infringing on some of my basic rights!!!! Now I'm not saying ALL Liberals ideas are like this, there are some I agree with..Like pro gay marriage!!

But then again, I am a from the LP...

Answer 3

I criticize liberals for the following reasons:
1) they tend to want government control in all aspects of human existance (completely against what our founding fathers wanted)
2) they tend to want higher taxes (a must for all the government programs)
3) They tend to accept every value and belief system except good, wholesome, conservative, Christian values of which this country was founded and has been blessed because it has.
4) They tend to want to treat everyone as a victim so as to provide government subsidies to help them (therefore, binding the person to a hand-out)
5) They tend to avoid coming up with REAL solutions to problems such as national defense and instead just want to focus on the home-front with our head in the sand, pretending there is no one wanting to kill us.
6) They have their priorities all backwards. They believe global-warming is more important than national defense. They believe that raising taxes will bring in more revenue than cutting them (which has been contradicted many, many times.)
7) They want to treat everyone as if they are clones instead of the individuals that they are. Boys are boys and girls are girls, why can't libs just let them be that?
8) Diversity is a lie to libs. Libs shout "Diversity" in order to force acceptance of all sorts of filth and garbage yet cannot accept traditional values as having merit.
9) Libs tend to want government control over all business interaction (a.k.a. a socialist state) vice letting the free market control what is built where and what costs and wages will be.

Answer 4

I engage daily in my profession with liberals. We have yet to come to blows, try to find some common grounds, where possible, and agree that division is bad for international diplomacy. Of course, the conversation is over if they cannot do anything more productive than to Bush-bash.

Maybe the negativity around here comes from a lack of true dialogue. And an over-abundance of worthless bashing, with no real solutions being offered.

I do agree that we have fundamentally different world-views, but have seen that keeping our senses of humor helps.

Answer 5

we disagree fundamentally on the way which we form our opinions.

liberals (purely in the political sense) base your opinions on emotions or feelings or good intentions.

Conservatives on the other hand, base our opinions on logical reasoning (which can be brutal sometimes, or seem that way)

therefore you have the formula for endless feuding.

i fall somewhere in the middle. that's where the truth really is. i agree with liberals on issues concerning personal freedom and government control on our own life choices.

then on the other-hand i agree with Conservatives on national security, fiscal responsibility, and ending government handouts.

Answer 6

unless i'm mistaken, to conservatives EVERY ISSUE is about liberals and not actually the issue at hand.

this seems to be the message of rush limbaugh, sean hannity, bill oreilly and the fox news network in general.

there has been such catastrophic failure over the past seven years that cons are desperate to change the subject from what has actually happened to an abstract conversation about anything other than the actually issues facing this nation.

i will also say that a scant six years ago it was not like this.

only as demonstrable failures have taken power in our govt has this happened.

the neocons want to divide america and replace good common sense reason and logic with FEAR.

the truth is that the neocons have become out and out radicals...

Answer 7

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I don't bash them,I have quite a few liberal friends...we just don't talk politics. As far as people in the media there is enough bashing from BOTH sides equally.

Answer 8

I don't post questions that criticize anyone.
However, when people in here say ugly or ignorant things about conservatives, then I will respond, usually with humor and/or sarcasm.

Answer 9

I criticize them because their reasons for many things are really really stuid and don't make sense! They need to look at the big effect not just what they want to think!

Answer 10

My experience is that people who label themselves "liberals" are usually much more close-minded than those who label themselves "conservatives".