Freedom from fear: Where is the liberal/conservative middle ground?

Question

Freedom from fear;
Conservatives gain freedom from fear by the existence of a strong authority, be that a military or police force through government, or a ruling deity as in religion. Any attacks against these authorities are seen as a threat to their freedom from fear.
Liberals see a strong authority as a threat to their personal liberties or a possible oppressive force. The means by which conservatives gain freedom from fear actually creates fear among liberals.
Whenever fear presents itself to either side all logic evaporates.
Is there a middle ground where the freedom from fear can exist for all people? Or, will there be a constant ebb and flow in the attempt to acheive this freedom?

Mike C
How did you ever get big government from strong authority?

Answer 1

The middle ground exists with the moderates who may lean slightly right or left, but do not embrace the extremist theories of those who are heavily partisan. We place too much emphasis on the partisans in our society. This is because they are the most vocal and therefore the most recognizable. Many people fail to recognize that the country is comprised mostly of moderates with the extremists representing the fringe elements.

Fear as a tactic is bad no matter which side is using it because it does not leave room for proper discussion from the opposing sides. We must have a mix of freedom and security, so both sides are necessary to the equation, but the middle ground is achieved by encouraging all to vote no matter what their political leanings. We may not always get the best candidates for the job, but what we do get is "Government of the people, By the people and For the people". When more people vote the better represented they become.

Answer 2

When I look at answering a question, I always examine the premise.

Is freedom from fear good? Is it practical? Is it healthy? No, no and no.

Fear is a great motivator. It protects us from harm. It leads on the path away from pain.

#1 "Conservatives gain freedom from fear by the existence of a strong authority,"

Conservatives believe NO such thing. No true conservative wants bigger government. As Ronald Reagan put it. - "Government is not the solution. It's often the problem,"

The strong authority is a Christian (loving and forgiving) God in my opinion. A strong military can help reduce fear. If used right, it protects us from tyrants and promotes freedom for the population to grow and prosper. However, a Godless (evil, hating and unforgiving) military, does just the opposite. The Ideal for a true conservative is a strong morally uncorrupt military and as small a Government as possible.

Liberals do not want a strong Government in the form of a military. They want a strong government in the form of social programs and taxation of the rich. As I mentioned before, they believe the lie that taxation can help the poor. However, when you tax the rich, the rich do not get poorer. They make their employees wotk harder for less. They make their customers pay more for less. They make their shareholders earn less on investments. In short, more poor people are created. the common man becomes a slave to taxation.

Liberals think this is just fine ie We make everyone equal

Conservatives see this as slavery.

liberals don't mind slavery as long as everyone is equal

Conservatives don't mind inequality, as long as they have freedom.

Answer 3

No, I don't think PC is for people who fear freedom of speech. People can take PC too far, but it does have a purpose. But I am a staunch defender of the first amendment, even if someone says something that I despise, I would never edit them. I can't think of a situation where I would justify banning free speech. Sure, I hate what some people have to say, I hate 'hate' speech, racist speech, sexists speech, etc. but I would never ban anyone from speaking their mind. And truth is subjective, everyone has there own truth. It is a fallacy to assume that ones truth is universal. One must realize that their belief about something is only There own truth, not necessarily everyone else's. :)

Answer 4

Your Logic is flawed, Freedom is the absence of Fear.
Your attempt to frame Conservatives as a Police State
While you cast Liberals in fear of a Police State, further
undermines, your twisted premise, nice try but try it on the
uninformed.

Answer 5

Freedom from fear begins with identifying what your fear is. Conservatives see the source of their fear as foreign threats like terrorists and rouge nations that support oppression and terrorism. Liberals see their own government as a threats to oppress them.

Sad but true.

Answer 6

Where did you come up with that Gibberish? If having enforcement of laws is what you consider coercion, move to another part of the world. Like Darfur, Tanzania, Djibouti, Bosnia, China, North Korea...etc. You will have a whole new outlook.
But nice try attempting to justify you're flawed logic.

Answer 7

I think most people are in such a serious need of a cranium rectal inversion that they don't even understanding what you are talking about.
You're being berated in the answers by both conservatives and liberals. I guess that makes you a moderate.
Liberals and conservatives don't want to find common ground. They just want the pissing contest to go on forever.

Answer 8

Nice analysis!

I think the middle ground is the Constitution and the concept of the Rule of Law. They are not affected by emotion, and when they are followed, we get balance between security and liberty. When we follow a person we're in danger of tipping the scale due to the emotional state of that person.

Answer 9

Life`s not easy. Are we going to be afraid of it or are we going to confront it ? Fear will always exist in many different forms, always has, always will. The best thing any one of us can do is to keep ourselves from being consumed by it.

Answer 10

It is a good thing our founding fathers were wise enough to understand people's differences and put this wisdom ahead of personal politics to get the job done. It still amazes me what they accomplished in the constitution and their writings.