Generally speaking are liberals considered to be open minded where Conservatives are considered inflexible?

Question

I have been conservative my whole life and I want to emphasise on the fact that I am asking if this is a generally believed stereotyping.

I would from personal experience agree with it as I have been extremly stubborn and set in my ways, until just recently. I had a near death experience and a great feeling of hopelessness forced me to let go of my ideals and look for new perspectives. In the course of changing my perspective and my life I have occurred a truly open mind.
I believe that many people on both side of the political spectrum could use a little oping up. Just seems like the right has a little tighter grasp on their close mindedness.

I know I am going to get attacked for this and people are going to bring up specific points, but I am talking about general, not specific.

Answer 1

Liberal thought and Liberal politics are not the same thing and anyone that tells you that they are is a liar.

Answer 2

On certain issues it's like saying "why not try taking a little cyanide, be openminded, how do you know it's bad for you?"

On somethings I have an open mind for example a new product or a better way of doing something. But when someone tells me that because of my ability I HAVE to contribute to those less able(welfare recipents) I say that is evil and armed robbery by proxy. Some things are black and white and if you compromise evil wins.

Answer 3

I think educated people are more open minded and it crosses both liberal and conservative thinking.
I think both sides are generally guilty of being inflexible.
That has to do with perception, personality, values, beliefs, etc as they are harder to change.
You have to work at being open minded by questioning your perceptions, your beliefs, and assumptions. You have to look at all available information, whether you agree with it or not. You have to look for information counter to your opinions and beliefs.
You are probably correct though but I don't think your point makes a lot of sense and is even worth debating. So what? Does it mean that it's true? Generalizations are usually wrong and don't mean much. They just help us to simplify information that we probably shouldn't be simplifying.

Answer 4

One of the best jobs I have had, made employees keep this in mind on how their business operated. Be FLEXIBLE and ADAPTABLE. The reason for this is that business simulates real life, and is always changing. You don't have to always change just be flexible enough to know that it can happen, and be adaptable if it does. Keeping one thing in mind. That when things do change it is to get better usually. If politicians kept this in mind or as the bases for there term in office, they would not have to worry about losing their seats. But as one contribute has stated extremist from both sides are closed minded the closer to the middle you get the closer to reason you will find.

Answer 5

i agree with you to some extent.

and i also think the present government is fascist

let s think fairly
first,do we have the right to have nuclear weapons and others not ?you may say we are a democratic country but you must know that Ahamadi Nejad elected and choosed by the iranian people(NB we are not sure if the president Bush desereved to be a president or not ,do you remeber the votes of the last state)
second: we are a democratic country but we hit Japan with 2 nuclear bombs at the end of the war without the need to do this (Japan was going to surrender)and we donot know if any japanese generation in the future may take revenege or not.
third:we allow some other countries to have nuclear weapond and help them like INDIA and ISRAEL WHICH is dangerous on the world peace and flaming wars from time to time (it is a reason of the hatred of many nations to usa)
forth:we have a very bad foreign policy against many countries like Cuba,Venezuela,middle east,north korea.,do you think if we have a fair normal diplomatic relation with these countries including iran ,does anyone of the world would attack us ?look at Canada ,it has a good realtions with all nations ,there is no terrorrism against it
fifth:we always attack others which makes them going to the steps of revenge.so if we stop shaking Iran regime ,do you think iranians and they know well that we are the strong power ,may attack us??

sixth: dealing with the iraq was is the worst .prisons of Abou ghareb ,killing citizens ,and many things which make others plans for revenge.

at the time of the second world war ,all countries of world and nations was looking up to USA ,now with the wrong decisions ,supporting some dictators,bad forign relations with many countries .the situation is difficult and there must be a change in the US policy

Answer 6

I think "liberals" are generally seen as being more inclusive and have a heightened sense of social justice and social responsibility, whereas "conservatives" are seen as more individualistic and follow the ideal of self betterment by one's own efforts. Which side of the political fence you favour depends on where your interests lie and the situation you live in. But like all aspects of human organisation, the two sides can get polarised even though there is a lot of commonalities between them.

Answer 7

That is the general stereotype of both sides. If left to their own devices, liberals would create a nanny state & conservatives would allow the government (as well as large corporations) to run around unchecked. It takes a little of both to keep things from getting out of hand.

Answer 8

Generally speaking broad-minded and narrow-minded ways of thinking are what separate liberal and conservative philosophies. Liberals can see the big picture while conservatives do better when focusing on detail. Neither is better than the other as there are times when we need to be able to see the big picture and there are other times when we need to focus on detail......What would be best for America is if all of us would learn to think both ways, that way we could work together to solve problems instead forcing a greater division.

Answer 9

The stereotype, per se, is that conservatives are more inflexible and liberals are open-minded.

However, stereotypes aren't always accurate. Not every Irish is a stumbling drunkard. Not every British person likes tea. Not every Canadian drinks maple syrup and lives in a log cabin.

In my experience, the extremists and loyalists for both sides of the political spectrum are equally closed-minded and inflexible... and will pick and chose what they want to hear.

Parties and ideologies are just an affiliation. The key to being open-minded and flexible lies with the individual.

Answer 10

Liberals are the most close minded people in the world. Take the war in Iraq for an example. The liberals are trying to lose the war. they have no better option but failure. the conservatives on the other hand are much more open minged. they want to win. they are giving the surge a chance.

Answer 11

I've met rigid and open minded people of both persuasions.

When I explain to people I know that I'm a conservative democrat, it seems to confuse them.

So we speak generally: generally by the time anyone has decided it's worth the effort to have a political opinion, they have pretty much categorized themselves into some limited box of thought to make the assimilation easier, and to prevent the intrusion of later second thought.