what causes a liberal to become that way? asking liberals....?

Question

Conservatives are often intelligent and materially successful people. There is a point that a conservative wakes up and becomes a liberal, with eyes wide open, why do some people not wake up and stay cons their whole lives?

i am not meaning to bash cons,,,, i am asking other liberals that have contemplated this....

or what is the differences in the two groups fundamentally...

Answer 1

i have always cared about other people, which i feel is the cornerstone of my liberal belief. i have been more fortunate than most all my life, even though many bad things have befallen me and my family. i have always felt that things would work out one way or another, and they have without needing anything from the government, except for a small period in the early eighties when my employer sent my job to mexico.

i see that not all people have been that fortunate, thru no fault of their own. no one likes abusers, but that is the slam that cons likes to use against liberals. when it becomes personal as it often does on this forum, there is no explanation accepted.

the rich and powerful will always take advantage of the less advantaged in this country. it is a fact. i see the democratic or liberal viewpoint as protecting me. the rich and powerful need no help, but neocons play right into their hands.

Answer 2

The term Liberal was at one time a catch all word donating Free expression, equal rights, political views with very extensive governmental help for people. Many feel that the conservative views have since moved closer to the Liberal right and will soon be linked to each other. Liberalism still believes that the entire population should have more assurances that their place in the country is protected as it was intended.
Spartawo...

Answer 3

I believe that both liberals and conservatives are good people. They both see evil in the other side and are willing to fight against it. The problem is they don't understand the concept of public choice theory, economic freedom, and social freedoms. Both peoples use government on the peaceful free in an attempt to control them. The biggest problem to both of their attempts to control the people is freedom is the best way to achieve anything for all. Human nature enables free man to build vast amounts of goods and services. This is why taxes are here in the first place. If it wasn't for governments continually producing a shody product they wouls already run things and be successful. Both liberals and conservatives have lost touch of reality and freedom. They both continue the push away from liberty and they both will lead us into economic devestation with their tax and spend policies.

Answer 4

As a liberal you can think of yourself as intellectual and nuanced, even though liberalism is incredibly simplistic. You can apply childlike emotionalism to adult issues. Any issue can be dealt with as feeling "nice" or "mean". If an issue is too complex you can always look to an actor or actress to provide your opinion, saving you alot of trouble. Since liberals tend to support or oppose policies based on how those policies make them feel about themselves, they do very little intellectual examination of whether the policies they advocate work or not. That's because it doesn't matter to them whether the policy is effective or not; it matters whether advocating the policy makes them feel "good" or "bad," "compassionate" or "stingy," "nice" or "mean." Because of this, liberalism has more in common with religion than it does with other political ideologies like conservatism or libertarianism. Moreover, liberal beliefs are more like religious doctrine than any sort of battle-tested policies that bear up under logic or examination. Although the interpretation of the doctrine that the Left supports may change a bit over time, just as religious doctrine does, it's essentially taken on faith, like scripture. This is much easier than questioning a policy's merit. That's why, for example, you may see ferocious debates on the right side of the blogosphere about the war, illegal immigration, or spending. But, with the liberals, the debates almost always revolve around the best strategy to get more liberals elected. The issues are not really up for debate, other than debate over how to get them enacted. This again saves you the trouble trying to figure things out for yourself. This same thinking leads to very little criticism of liberals by other liberals. Liberals will ferociously defend and even happily echo the lies of other liberals. Liberal feminists will defend Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy. Liberals who pride themselves on being tolerant of other races will support Robert Byrd. Why? Because even if they're wrong, they're still fellow liberals -- which must mean they're nice people. What this leads to is an attitude that can be summed up like so: "The only things that a liberal can do wrong is to be insufficiently liberal, to question an important plank of the liberal agenda, or to do something politically that aids conservatives." So you are always right, those that disagree with you are evil, and you never have to worry about being criticized by other liberals. What could be better?

Answer 5

If you are being sincere, I believe it's simply a matter of perception and personal values based on how we see the world around us. I once asked a conservative friend about why conservatives seem so greedy and self-serving. She came up with a great, thought provoking answer: liberals seek to help others with "handouts", while conservatives try to help by teaching people to provide for themselves. I'm not sure I believe that's how it happens in practice, but it's an interesting answer that appears to have some truth to it.

Answer 6

Education.

If you read about the history of liberalism, conservatism, the left-wing, and right-wing, you learn about how left-wing liberals have always been on the winning side.

They were the ones who fought to end slavery, expand equal rights to women, and minorities, and protect workers, consumers, and citizens from corporate frauds.

Conservatives, did what conservatives do best, support the status quo.

Answer 7

a political or social philosophy advocating the freedom of the individual, parliamentary systems of government, nonviolent modification of political, social, or economic institutions to assure unrestricted development in all spheres of human endeavor, and governmental guarantees of individual rights and civil liberties.

The definition of Liberal from the Dictionary. I think it is time you had a rethink.

Answer 8

I don't look at liberalism as some sort of "enlightenment". It's simply a different world view of how to deal with the same issues. Conservatives are conservative because their views reflect protecting their interests - whether it be wealth, moral and family issues, or perceived foreign threats.
Liberals are liberal because their views reflect the concept of protecting society as well - whether it be promoting equality, correcting the wealth gap, or preserving personal rights and freedoms.

Answer 9

I disagree with every word you typed.
Conservatives are more interested in controlling people and their private lives and parts.
Liberals are concerned that no one goes to bed hungry and cold. That what is private remains so.

Answer 10

Smarter people are liberals; how to put this kindly . . . not-so-smart people are cons.