What are some things that Liberals and Conservatives agree on?

Question

I lived in the South West for many years, where Conservative beliefs were prevalent, and Liberals were seen as a major source of 'what's wrong with America.' Now I live in the East where Liberalism is considered 'common sense' and Conservatives are seen as a large, scary organization bent on ruining America.

If we actually compiled a list of things we all agreed on, though, I think we'd find that we had more in common than we thought...

Thank you, everyone, for your insightful answers. I wish I could select all of your answers as the best.

The gulf between the parties is enormous, self evident, and destructive, but the similarities are hard to spot. So far we've identified:
- Both sides have a genuine love for America, despite what the other party says about them.
- We all agree that immigration needs to be reformed NOW.
- Both agree that abortions are a necessity in some situations, and we'd be better off if there were fewer of them.
- Both agree that obesity is shortening people's lives and that something needs to be done.
- Both appeal to the Constitution to support their views.
- Both want the poor and the sick to be taken care of.

Politicians get more votes when they convince their party members that the opposition is an imminent threat; whether it is or not.

Kudos to everyone to refuses to be manipulated! It is our open dialogue that allows us to separate the good from the bad and move forward.

Answer 1

Both are against the consolidation of media by corporations.

I heard a report on this, concerning the FCCs moves to take down barriers to companies owning multiple media outlets in the same markets. Nearly 70% of people are against this and it breaks down about the same if you look by party, by liberal or conservative, by age, by income, by race. Everyone is against it, except the FCC.


Another one is abortion. I know, it sounds crazy, but nearly everyone thinks that abortion should be allowed in at least cases where it would save the mother's life and a very high percentage think it should be allowed in cases of rape or incest. Most people on both sides wish there were a lot fewer abortions.

Answer 2

The problem is neither side is willing to see common ground any longer. They both are too busy vilifying the other side. Former Michigan Congressman Bill Broomfield is a family friend. He served for over 30 years in the house and on the foreign affairs committee. (He was the former Congressman that passed out at the Ford funeral and needed to be rushed to the hospital in the middle of the service). In talking with him a few months back he said he was sickened by the incredible lack of civility in politics.

It used to be that political dissent 'ended at the water's edge'. Both sides of the aisle would never, ever publically bash the President or the military on issues concerning national security. Everything would be done, as best as possible, behind closed doors.

Now, with the growth of talk radio, both sides are too busy telling you to fear the other party then they are at getting the truth out there. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannidy, Michael Moore, Rosie O'Donnell and the rest of the talking heads are whats wrong with the political system today. They are spewing hate instead of talking about the issues.

If a Democrat proposes legislation it is a Socialist Liberal attempt to turn the US into a Communist regime. If a Republican proposes a law its fill the pockets of corporations and rich billionaires. It doesn't matter what good the law could do, if its from the other party its evil.

Answer 3

The two factions have far more in common than people think.

Start with this fact -- nothing would ever get done if there was no consensus. No budget, no bills, etc. Yes, there is a lot of posturing on both sides, but in day-to-day practice there is more uniting us than separating us.

Does everyone follow the Constitution? Yup. Do they want to help the unfortunate and sick? Generally speaking. Cure disease? Promote a healthy economy? Have safe streets? Yes, yes and yes.

The methods may differ slightly, but the goals are the same.

Answer 4

If you mean liberals like Lieberman, you can say defending our country.

I completely dispute your take on the Northeast. Conservatism is considered scary to liberals in the east because of the arrogance of the Northeast elites. I live in the area and know.

Arrogance is prevalent all over the place in liberal land. It is all about image and what you have. These are some of the most shallow people out there. Elites live their lives thinking they are better than everyone else.

Look at how successful people are in their lives, marriages, and happiness and you will see conservatives win hands down.

Answer 5

Unfortunately we have allowed ourselves to be deluded by demagogues who only create disharmony and intentionally tie the truth into meaningless knots.

Its true of both the left and right these days. Where how and why it started are not relevant, but we really need to do ourselves a favor and stop listening to people whop make money off fueling our anger.

Left or right - if you walk away agreeing with a pundit, angry, but only able to remember some catchy cliche you are probably being manipulated.

Answer 6

Actually, Conservatives and Liberals agree on a lot of things. They have different perspectives on how to accomplish those things.

For example, almost everyone likes the idea of freedom. And yet, we see people (Liberals) who look to government to solve problems, take care of people, & c. This is because they believe that if government doesn't do it, it won't get done.

The Conservative see government as the primary cause of most of our problems. We see government as interferring in our freedoms. We think that we have obligations to do things as individuals, and we resist the idea that there is some collective authority to tax us to pay for it.

In short, nobody wants to see anyone go hungry or homless. Some of us believe that the state needs to take care of these people. Others believe that relatives, churches, private charities, LOCAL governments, and we as individuals, have an obligation to make sure people in need get the assistance they need.

In the are of gun rights (or gun control), Liberals think that government needs to control guns to prevent them from falling into the hands of criminals. Conservatives see guns as too dangerous a tool to allow politicians to control. We see politicians as some of the worst criminals. After all, it's politicians who start wars. We don't trust them.

An area of dispute is the idea of abortion. Liberals think that a woman has a right to have an abortion, almost like she has a right to have a face lift. Conservatives see abortion as genocide. It is the killing of a certain class of individual. To us, this sounds like something out of Nazi Germany, or Communist China. It's hard to find any common ground here.

Answer 7

you're an incredible strategies reader to be able to be sure that conservatives and liberals agree that pot ought to be criminal. maximum liberals that i comprehend as maximum conservatives have self assurance that pot ought to be unlawful. there's a chop up on the two facets approximately scientific use however.

Answer 8

They both agree there are problems and utimately want the same results but differ dramatically on how to go about fixing the problems.

Answer 9

For a good example I suggest checking out:

http://www.LiberalsVSConservatives.com

The debate is actually quite civil and will give you an idea of the ideals of both groups.

Answer 10

We need to stop America's obesity epidemic so the next generation of kids can be healthy...somehow.