Conservatives are having trouble telling liberals and socialists apart?

Question

As a liberal minded person, I do not care for socialists. I feel the same about socialists as do most conservatives. It bothers me, however, that many conservatives are having trouble telling the two apart. Here is one of many defining points to help tell the difference;

Liberals believe in equal opportunity.
Socialists believe in equal outcome.

In other words, Liberals take their kids to play T-Ball and keep score. Socialists don't keep score.

Can anyone add any other points in which liberalism is different from socialism? There are many.

Answer 1

Liberalism supports free market, Socialism supports more control.

Answer 2

Actually, the differences aren't quite so many in number as you might think. Socialists tend to massively expand government in order to keep people "safe and happy," trampling all over individual rights in the process. When their huge programs go bankrupt and send all of their dependants scrambling, they cry for a little while about how this wasn't supposed to happen, how they had only good intentions in doing crazy things. But that's going into excessive detail; socialists are merely more extreme liberals. This of course does not mean that all liberals are socialists (even though a very great many liberal programs appear otherwise), but it does mean that quite nearly all socialists are liberals.

Answer 3

Because socialism has taken up home in the Liberal wing of politics. They are on the Far Left, but nonetheless, they have become the envirnmentalist, anti-meat, anti-capitalist, extremeists that many Conservatives identify as the modern day neo-Liberals. There is a fine line. I have many Liberal friends who don't consider themselves Far Left, but they hate the military. They hate Bush, or for that matter any Republican.

Answer 4

Liberals believe that people should not own guns.

Socialists know that the government will have to use force to make this happen.

Liberals believe that unequal outcomes are proof that opportunity is unequal.

Socialists don't really care about the outcome, as long as they are in charge of how the statistics get reported.

Liberals let their kids keep score in T-Ball, but then tell them that the score doesn't matter.

Socialists are more honest and realistic than Liberals, because they are comfortable with the end result of assiduously following the precepts on which Liberalism is founded.

Answer 5

Yes there are differences, but liberals favor LARGE government, and much more government control over matters in which the Constitution grants them absolutely no power. The more the government controls, the more socialist it becomes. A liberal such as yourself might have his/her heart in the right place, but the more power you give to a government, the less freedoms you have. Before you make the government even more powerful, remember, power is seldom relinquished of free will. It must be taken away.

Answer 6

right wing radicals are having trouble with the truth as well,, the testimony of Gonzales should make all conservatives ashamed,, as a moderate, I can not fathom how America can be so divided as a nation,, but religion can be destructive,, that is why our founding fathers wisely put in separation of church and state,, but try telling that to born-again Christians,, they want control of peoples minds,, most Christians are good law abiding people,, but the right wing socialists want control,, of the world,,, (NWO) your land,, money,, schools,, and yes minds.

"blueridge" makes an excellent point !

and "Matt",,, the only thing liberals hate,, are people like you who put lies into their mouths..... too much Hannity will warp your mind....

Answer 7

Liberals believe in a much larger role for government in the lives of Americans than conservatives.
I think, though, that Americans in general believe in equal opportunity. Unfortunately it appears that the far-left is tending ever closer towards the philosophy of equal outcome. It's a dangerous trend.

Answer 8

Alot of "liberal" politicians are not liberal but socialist. Keeping religion and state seperate is a Socialist trait. Keep the Church (Baptist) and state seperate is a "Liberal" trait.

Answer 9

Liberals believe in equal opportunity.
Socialists believe in equal outcome.

Whats the differences again?

Answer 10

I don't think the problem lays with conservative's perception. The problem is that democrats are becoming socialists and it is not that hard to see. Even scarier, is that as the democrats move to the left so are the Republicans. The difference between the two is that Democrats will become full blooded Marxists a week before Republicans do.