Liberals...the word has such a negative connotation, conservatives need to be called "UNPROGRESSIVES."

Question

I'm taking a poll, yea or nay and comments if you agree or disagree.

The word "LIBERAL" has always had a negative connotation. It does have a positive connotation when you refer to them as being progressive.

The word "CONSERVATIVE", on the other hand had always been favored for reasons I don't understand when it indicates "intransigence" or "obstinate"

It doesn't mean that if a society has always done a procedure a certain way, that it would be the right way, or as most people have phrased it, "This is how we've always done it. " There is more than a dozen ways to skin a cat. After all, "Change is the only thing constant in this world. "

Answer 1

You're just full of catch-phrases aren't you?

Well, here's one of my favorite axioms:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

Don't you hate it when things are running prefectly smooth and along comes Mr. Liberal thinking he can "fix" things.? Inevitably, the liberal only makes things worse with his hair-brained schemes. Conservative doesn't mean "obstinate". The meaning is "one who conserves", someone who doesn't like things to go to waste and decay.

Like the Constitution, for example.

Answer 2

True, but if you consider conservatism, it's purpose is to conserve what you have. This is a wise course to take, and while changing times require changing policy it's always a good idea to hold on to what you have. It's not necessarily unprogressive, because even staunch right wing conservatives would have to deal with impending changes; they would just attempt to do so in a manner that preserves the status quo.

Liberals and progressives are quite different. Liberals take a liberal stance on policy, which if you ask me is quite unguided and ignorant. They will do what the people want, regardless of how uneducated it really is. A progressive specifically seeks progress through policy.

Answer 3

Unprogressive is a true assessment. Either way one could say that a rose by any other name is still a rose.

Progressive denotes progress. If one looks at history it is quite accurate. Therefore anyone opposing progress would be an antiprogressive or unprogressive or one who opposes progress.

While we do need to make progress to improve our lives and have done so we need to occasionally stop and take a deep breath or even step back a step before we progress more. That is where the unprogressives come in. They offer a balance to keep things from moving too fast. So fast in fact that we can't handle the positive changes.

Answer 4

only by drinking the kool-aid...

liberal has negative connotations... go wikipedia the word liberal and LEARN what it means... here is a snippet:

"Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. A liberal society is characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on power, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy, free private enterprise, and a transparent system of government in which the rights of all citizens are protected."

Here is some of wikipedias article on conservatism:

"Conservatism is a relativistic term used to describe political philosophies that favor traditional values, where "tradition" refers to religious, cultural, or nationally defined beliefs and customs."

Conservatism stands for slavery, exploitation, ignorance, xenophobia, aristocracy, papacy, etc... Oh Yes, and delusional denial too (ie. yahoo answer boards)...

Every single great american president has been liberal/populist/moderate... with no exceptions, there have been ZERO great administrations of conservative presidents...

Washington was a liberal, Lincoln was a liberal, Roosevelt was a liberal... you know, the presidents who led our nation through real wars against deadly foes, fought in earnest collectively... not these imperialistic safari hunts the conservatives get us into...

funny how everytime a conservative is president, we're at war with some dirt poor country where there leader is the new hitler!! what a joke... germany was a threat because it was the most technologically advanced nation on earth... they didn't buy an air force form another country, they developed one, etc... u get my point...

where were the conservatives during WWII, this nation's greatest hour? They called it "America First" -- go look it up... they were fascist sympathizers who were stabbing roosevelt in the back every chance they got...

What did barbara bush say when asked about FDR? "Oh No! We weren't allowed to mention his name in my house when we were growing up"

It is the big lie all over agan... aside from PBS, the media in this country is 100% privately owned, by conservative business minded billionaires... and THEY set the agenda on THEIR stations... They say "Liberalism is evil!!" Sure they are...

Up is Down. In is Out. Night is Day. FDR is the worst president we ever had... sure and linoln sucked too...

they say liberals are evil? u want to know evil? how about the magazine john ashcroft, archConservative, 'southern partisan', when u subscribe they give u a free t-shirt with a picture on it? what picture? a print of lincoln's blown open head with the caption "Death to Tyrants"...

conservatives are fascists... they scream about 'blood and soil' just like reactionary fascists everywhere... closed minded bigots...

they never learned the most basic lesson of history... when soldiuers have to fight 'mano a mano' in the streets of a urban area... technology doesn't mean a thing and casualties will be more equalized... they are macho loudmouths who don't know sh*t about history...

Again, look at wikipedia for an introduction to the concepts...

In a nutshell it is the difference between the renaissance and the dark ages, enlightenment vs. dogma...

don't take my word for it, do u'r own research...

Proud to be a liberal! (Progressive too)

Answer 5

More leftist stuff - semantics over substance.

The reason "liberal" has a negative connotation is because of "liberals" (leftists, actually) like YOU!

You are more worried about words, apparently, than in policies that work.

Answer 6

I agree with the premise of your definitioins for each, and there is always a dozen ways to skin a cat, but the "liberals" do it at the expense of the conservatives. Take what they have worked for and share it with others (socialistic or communistic, call it what you like, it doesn't sit well )!

Answer 7

I think it's because it's been tied up to "blind faith", most of the time religious people think it's wrong to question their faith so they turn out to be "drones", this of course does not apply to all religions, but this is the common association.

Answer 8

disagree.

the word liberal has not 'always' had negative connotations - it's actually only recently that this piece of attack propaganda has been successful.

besides, both words have no real meaning to 90+% of americans who are centrists.

Answer 9

Perhaps it's not the label, but the IDEOLOGY that's the problem.

I'm not usually this partisan or blunt, but calling manure "meadow daises" wouldn't make it smell any less bad.

Answer 10

Synonyms for Liberal are: open-minded, freethinking and tolerant.

Synonyms for Conservative are: conformist and old-fashioned and narrow-minded.

American society needs to look at the words and the true meaning and deicide if they are open-minded and freethinking or if they are old-fashioned and narrow-minded.