Liberals and Conservatives explained

[Al B. Sure!]

Stefu:

It might have to do with the fact that drug use surrounds itself with crime. Hugh Hefner generally doesnt bust on competing porno magazine executives.


thanks

[Verto]

Conservatives trust the people to do what is best. Liberals trust the government to do what is best.

[Jon Miller]

I think both liberals and conservatives are misguided

but I think neither, as groups, are evil

Jon Miller

[orange]

it was a nice simple analogy, the thing about liberals having no head and conservatives having no heart. But that's only as far as politicians go. It's possible to be conservative or liberal and have both. I've seen conservatives here who have both, though I don't agree with their feelings on some issues, as well as those that fit the steriotype, sadly.

[orange]

Originally posted by Albert Speer
Nah... Conservatives (due to religious reasons [minus Calvinists]) generally believe people are fundamentally good and hard-working. but are tainted by a lack of faith and morality. EVERYTHING conservatives stand for is based on this premise. Conservatives are against welfare because they are confident that all men are fully capable of working a good job and making money. Conservatives are against censorship because they believe that people don't care much for sex and violence and will make sure their kids don't see none of it. Conservatives favour low taxes because they believe people will use their money more wisely than the gov't can and give to charity for the poor.

Liberals think people are generally bad and hence don't trust people with their money and don't believe people will give to charity on their own.


thanks

For the record, i'd like to state that 90% of this is horseshit.

[Ecthy]

I fully agree with orange

[Al B. Sure!]

What verto said was basically what I was trying to say...

and thank you Imran for your support...

[Al B. Sure!]

Orange:

Explain... don't just call something **** then dont say why... As if you somehow superior to everybody else and don't need to explain yourself

[orange]

Verto is also a little off...mainly because it doesn't apply in all circumstances

Most republicans aren't in favor of drug legalization, but are against gun control. You're more likely to find a Democrat in favor of drug legalization, yet they are more likely to support gun control.

Differnet issues, different feelings on who should make the decisions - individuals or government.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I agree with orange too .

[orange]

:sigh:...where to begin...

Nah... Conservatives (due to religious reasons [minus Calvinists])

Line 1: Not all conservatives are so for 'religious reasons' There is a difference between fiscal conservatives and government conservatives.

[Conservatives] generally believe people are fundamentally good and hard-working. but are tainted by a lack of faith and morality.

No. You maybe, but I don't even think you qualify as a conservative. You'd scare most conservatives, even the politicians.

If this were so, they'd be more likely to support programs such as Drug Rehab, Welfare, etc. The majority of conservatives don't.

EVERYTHING conservatives stand for is based on this premise.

Not all conservatives think the same way, so to declare that EVERYTHING conservatives stand for is based on anything is inaccurate. People are conservative on different issues for different reasons. I'm against Affirmative Action...so I'm 'conservative' on the issue...

Conservatives are against welfare because they are confident that all men are fully capable of working a good job and making money.

Probably the only correct thing you've said among this.

Conservatives are against censorship because they believe that people don't care much for sex and violence and will make sure their kids don't see none of it.

Bull****. Conservatives and Liberals (mainly, Democrats and Republicans) stand almost equal on censorship. If anything, I'd expect Democrats and Liberals to be against censorship over Conservatives and (edit Republicans. Tipper doesn't count.

Conservatives favour low taxes because they believe people will use their money more wisely than the gov't can and give to charity for the poor.

Partially correct, but screwed it at the end. It has nothing to do with being charitable. Conservatives feel that the money people make is theirs to do what they want with. They feel it is wrong for the government to take from them to redistribute to others. They don't assume they'll give to their favourite charity.

Liberals think people are generally bad and hence don't trust people with their money and don't believe people will give to charity on their own.

No. Most liberals think the opposite. They believe in redistribution of wealth because of this principle. To give those less fortunate a better chance, since they deserve one. Sometimes liberals act more with their heart than their brain. It's our one flaw.

Happy now, Speer?

[Stefu]

What this thread obviously needs is my definition of right and left. From a PM to Snapcase:

The basis of whether a position on issue is left-wing or right-wing is simple. The Left wants 'progress', here interpreted as progress towards fairer, more egalitarian society. The Right, for many reasons, opposes the Left in it's egalitarian quest. The main outline of history, at least from 1700 on, is of 'progress' - more egalitarian society. Democracy and republicanism replacing absolute monarchy, serfdom and slavery abolished, socialism and all it's reforms, women's suffrage, quest for equal rights by various racial, religious and sexual groups. Right has opposed these - in name of tradition, in name of God, in name of superiority of whites and males, and lately, in name of liberty. On the other hand, if we take 'progress' to it's logical conclusion, we have society of Harrison Bergeron - people equalized by artificially weakening the strong and stupidifying the intelligent.

Left won't get there, however. Some people value liberty more than fairness or opposition to more fairness. Of course, to most people, liberty is only important in certain causes - but there are always some causes people are willing to support on basis of 'people should be free'. Historically, liberal thought and leftist thought have gone hand in hand - democracy, abolition, women's suffrage and gay rights have been just some causes both sides could support. Lately, however, The Left has started to go with social engineering, with things like Affirmative Action and redistributive taxation designed to artificially level the playing field. That goes against the liberal thought, which can be seen by conservatives around the world adopting the liberal rhetoric. Thus, apart from some causes (like gay rights), further progress in Western society is pretty unlikely, and there might even be some rollback.

As for Albert:

It might have to do with the fact that drug use surrounds itself with crime. Hugh Hefner generally doesnt bust on competing porno magazine executives.

That's probably thanks to drug use itself being criminal. If porn was illegal and Hef was still in business, it's possible he would bust on competing porn magazine executives.

[Verto]

The Right, for many reasons, opposes the Left in it's egalitarian quest. The main outline of history, at least from 1700 on, is of 'progress' - more egalitarian society. Democracy and republicanism replacing absolute monarchy, serfdom and slavery abolished...

Are you saying republicans opposed the abolition of slavery?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yep, remember Prohibition. It was run by criminals. Beer production these days is an industry that is no more tainted than the rest of them... and probably has a better reputation for not being crooks than the accounting industry, at the least.

[Stefu]

Are you saying republicans opposed the abolition of slavery?

Are you saying Republicans of that time period were conservative?