Liberals and Conservatives?

Question

Please explain the difference to me. What do each stand for/believe in? I've never known. Do I decide which one I am by how much I agree with what they think?

Answer 1

It's all a bunch of baloney. Most of us are liberal sometime and conservative sometimes. My advice is be an independent thinker and don't fall for in with the herd.

Answer 2

The terms are designed to confuse the public into thinking there is a choice in their leadership. The truth is both serve corporate intersts, not the public they claim to represent. The American concept of a Federal government is one of the elected leaders "serving" the public who elected them. Unfortunately, our leaders, both Liberal and Conservative, since Reagan anyway have chose to serve Corporate Conglomerates instead of people.

Prior to Reagan, tariffs protected our economy, prevented job loss and industry from relocating to cheaper labor countries, and allowed the United States to become the worlds greatest civilization mankind ever created. Reagan, then Clinton changed all that by removing the federal protections from our economic base, and allowed corporate conglomerates to usurp the political power of government.

Without a healthy industrial base a modern country cannot properly equip it's military or support it's population. It is why every other nation on the planet protect their economies with tariffs. The U.S. quit protecting the economy under Reagan, and Clinton nailed the coffin shut on it with NAFTA & GATT. Ross Peroit tried to tell the American public we were making a big mistake, but we chose to make fun of his physical appearence instead of listen to his words.

Now we talk about the deficit as if we don't know what it is, Dennis Miller makes jokes about it, and they hide their treachery right in front of our noses, so we over look it. This is what the federal deficit is, please excuse the use of anology for the explination, it is necessary:

You make a product outside the U.S. and pay a dime for labor, and I make the same product in the U.S. and pay a dollar for labor, then we both sell it on the American market to the American consumer, there is a 90 cent deficit created. Multiply this by all the economic activity in the United States and you see how the deficit became enormous. A tariff of 90 cents on the cheaper import evens the playing field, and encourages businesses to stay in the U.S. where their market is, but without a federal tariff on imports, companies are encouaged to close up shop in the U.S. and move to cheaper labor countries.

Sorry I took you so far, so fast, know this, there is no real difference between the Democratic party and the Republican party, they are to arms on the same body, Media driven rethoric fuel the debate between the two to prevent intelligent discussion about real issues from occuring.

Answer 3

You believe in what you want to believe, what you think is right and wrong. Being a part of a political party, doesn't make you what you are. Be true to yourself, and screw the rest. I am a Republican. God and Ronald Reagan helped me to see that. The way to decide what party you agree with, is to watch news, read newspapers, (ugh, read folks' words on Yahoo! Answers?), pay attention, if you go to school, LISTEN. It will all become clear to you, if you reason all the nonsense out. Good Luck!

Definitions of a Republic, and Democracy, below

Answer 4

you will get very few "unbiased" questions here. Talk to people. Lots of them. Get a feeling of who they are and what they are about. Then find out if they think of themselves as Liberals or Conservatives. You don't need a "label" to define who you are. But if you want one, that should help. Don't listen to talk radio. That won't help. Do some research on the Internet. Read a few books. Be careful as anything you read could also be biased. Good Luck.

Answer 5

Basicly Cons belive in self govering people. (Spend your own money on what you want)

Libs belive in larger goverment (High taxes but compleat healthcare for all)

Thats the basic pricable of both,but many differint types.

Like Christian conservitives,Libaral democrats,Libaral republican,Conservitive democrat,neo conservitive.


Now i belive i am a Christian conservitive. I try to follow what the Bible says (though im not perfect) I support people geting out and making themselfs succeed though thier own choices. IE:(Work hard, you get good things. Slack off you can end up in the gutter)

I think Taxes play a large role in how the Econamy plays out.

Large taxes produce income, at a drop in economics and evuntualy a chain of other bad events. As well as gives the goverment more funding to exspand programs such as more healthcare.

Low taxes produces less income, but boost small biusniss groth needed for jobs,that makes people self independent (Able to aford what they want)

I think both sides have good ideas, but i do not agree with the means for achiving how libarals go about getting it.

I think healthcare is importiand,but if it means high taxes that makes more problems than its worth. It also makes a situation like Canada (6 month waits for most doctors) Instead of a week at the most.

Jobs are what turns me on most, I think its best to have everyone employed with decent wages. That makes it possible for them to support themselfs and not have to relay on goverment Aid, lessoning the stress on the goverment.

Both Ideas are good, but both are also flawd.

Thier is no perfect system (until God shows it to us) But i think Morality is the best way to go. Not to say Libarals do not have it,i think most do(Just the far left dont, just as the far right dosent)

But to me, I think if what the left proposes may sound good on paper, Humans have proven it cant work in the long run many times.

Answer 6

Here is probably my favorite way of explaining the difference. In "The Federal Courts, Politics, and the Rule of Law," by John C. Hughes (published 1995), it says:

"In the contemporary political context, those who fear conformity have tended to describe themselves as liberal and have tended to applaud judicial 'protection' of human rights. Those who fear diversity have tended to call themselves conservatives and have been appalled by judicial 'usurpation' of the majority's discretion to form the kind of community it finds most conducive to its own happiness. The former tends to approve of the expansive theories of constitutional interpretation, while the latter tends to prefer the restrained theories of judicial review. These alignments are neither perfect nor inevitable, but the debate has surely been shrill."

Answer 7

Abortion.....
Liberals are pro choice.
Conservatives are pro life.(I'm democrat but I am afraid Im with them on this one)

Gay Marriage/Parenting and homosexuality in general....
Liberals.... mind their own business
Conservatives..... Are against it unless it is Dick Chaney's daughter.

Global Warming.....

Liberals..... Know we are about to die if we don't do something.
Conservatives......Are just now admitting it may be a problem.


Healthcare....

Liberals... Want everyone to have insurance and be able to get the care they need at any cost.
Conservatives.... Say we cant afford it.


Those are my opinions on my big issues. Here is how you tell....

Do you like GW Bush? If so then you are definately a Conservative Republican.

Otherwise you'll need to do some reading on the two sides and see which one better fits your important issues if any if not check into non partisanship.

Answer 8

"Liberal" refers to people who believe that society can be changed for the better, and that government can be used as an instrument of such change. Because of their idealism, liberals often come off as unrealistic and sometimes downright flaky.

"Conservative" refers to people who have a much more "realistic" viewpoint: money rules; greed, not altruism, is what really drives human behavior; and human nature is so powerful that society can never be changed (except to strengthen the institutionalization of greed). There is a lot to be said for the accuracy of this viewpoint.

However, if we had not had millions of idealistic people working their buns off for the past several hundred years, each doing their tiny bit to make the world a better place, satisfied to make their incremental, almost-invisible changes which accumulated decade after decade, century after century, then we would still have slavery, public hangings, and open sewers running down the middle of our streets.

The forces of greed and corruption have become very powerful in recent years. I can only encourage idealistic people to keep struggling, to fight the inertia, to continue working to make the world a better place.

Answer 9

Unless your making 250,000 dollars a year or thereabouts--your thoughts should place you in the Liberal mentality. If you work for a living--you should consider yourself a liberal. If your against this war, for minimum wage increase, pro-labor, sick of the Corporations writing our public policy--your a liberal. Just because you have a pro-choice stance, anti-gay rights beliefs, you didn't like Clinton cause he got a hummer or believe in any other "hot-button" stance on an issue doesn't segregate you into one party or another.

Answer 10

You will get a whole variety of views from what people say here...

check these. then ask more questions if ya need to.
I think right off the start peoples answers here are just going to confuse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism