What do Liberals and Conservatives believe?

[smile]

I've been kind of confused on this issue, and in defining myself. I know that my EXTREME Republican, Conservative, Christian family members bug the crap out of me and are always getting onto me for my views. But beyond that I really don't know what the general belief's are of Liberal's and Conservatives.

Could you name a few key points? and be as unbiased as possible.

[Dave]

It's human nature to believe in a higher power. Some people call this higher power Jesus, Krishna, Allah, and so on. And this belief gives people hope that there's more to their lives than consumurisim, famine, poverty, greed, or whatever else that is also a product of human nature.

If someone finds peace and they don't harm others, then what's the problem?

[Socrates]

American Conservatism believes in equal opportunity, equal justice, individualism and charity. It holds in great reverence the Constitution and it's ideals of limited federal government and natural (individual) rights. Individual rights are those inherent in the people and do not need an outside enabler (like government) to make them work. It also believes in the power and ability of free market principles to make everyones life better. Although these are principles on Conservatism, it is also pragmatic to bend to a certain extent to non-Conservative principles that may already be in place. For instance, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid may be over-steps of limited Federal government, but they are willing to live with them and just reform them from the bloated, bureaucratic, wasteful mess they are. Neither would it want to go back to the pure market-driven, exploitative days of the Industrial Revolution. Conservatism has no problem with natural inequity in life, just as long as individuals are not blocked or impeded in their rising above those inequities. The implied Constitutional mandate of the proper role of government, being the protection of rights and liberties of it's citizens is the mechanism that support this. This does not guarantee happiness, but it protects their pursuit of it. The individual's abilities are what determines how far they can go. For those who have difficulty, there is charity, even a hand-up from government to a certain extent, but not a handout. Compassion is not measured by how many people can be taken care of by government, but by how many DON'T have to be taken care of by government, trapped by welfare.

Liberalism believes in equal outcome, social justice, collectivism and government welfare. It believes that government should be as active as possible in helping it's citizens as much as possible with cradle-to-grave programs. It believes government must take an active role in removing as many inequities of life as possible. Society must change to support this system of "help". Liberalism believes in human (collective) rights. These kind of rights requires government to supply them and people are entitled to these type of rights. Liberals want redistribution of wealth and envision the role of big-business to serve more directly as more employee support centers and less profit centers, working in “partnership” with government as outlets for government social policies.

[Meg]

Conservatives think people get what the deserve and Liberal think that luck and circumstance play a large role in life outcomes so are more likely to want to help people in need and to use the government to do it.

[Think different]

Briefly - A liberal is a person open to new ideas, accepts change (open minded).

A conservative is a person who is reluctant to change, and satisfied with the status quo (closed minded).

[Tracy]

I can only speak for my Liberal self. I believe that all people are equal, I believe in unconditional tolerance (except for tolerance of intolerance), every person deserves a basic level of dignity (food, shelter, education and health care) and we are all interconnected: If one of us falls, we are all diminished. I recognize that society has embraced capitalism, but I despise that people have become statistics, debits and credits in a ledger, rather than invaluable and irreplaceable individuals.