Define liberal. Define conservative.

[elperromagico]

[wyldwolf]

1. impossible to give a definitive definition of those terms

[elperromagico]

14. I seek no definitive defintion, merely a personal one.

[reBel_gyrl]

2. Okay....

lib·er·al
Liberal Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.

con·ser·va·tive
Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.
Of or relating to the political philosophy of conservatism.
Belonging to a conservative party, group, or movement.

Whats YOUR definition?

[elperromagico]

6. My definition doesn't come from a dictionary.

Liberal: An ideology representing progression, open-mindedness, and imagination. Optimism that a thing, be it a nation, a person, or an idea, can always be improved upon is a hallmark of this ideology.

Conservative: An ideology representing either regression or stand-patism, closed-mindedness, and lack of imagination. This ideology thrives on the notion that a thing, be it a nation, a person, or an idea, is either as good as it can possibly be or is worse than it has been in the past.

Narrow definitions, perhaps. They're mine, though, and I'm understandably fond of them.

[unschooler]

3. Liberals believe in helping those in need and leaving everyone

else alone.

Conservatives believe in bossing everyone else and leaving those in need alone.

[HereSince1628]

4. A liberal is a person who demonstrates broad tolerance

A conservative is a person who has very narrow tolerance typically based on psuedo-authority that makes appeals to overly simplistic appeals to listeners' desires to be free from uncertainty and fear.

I didn't make that up. Check out the scholarly publication on the nature of conservatism by Jost et al.

[unschooler]

8. Good post. Is Jost the professor who wrote about the

psychological aspects of conservatism (high agression, etc.)?

[HereSince1628]

13. Jost, and a group of psychologists characterized conservatism

in apaper titled “Political conservatism as motivated social cognition” ( Psychological Bulletin vol 129, pp 339-375). That paper explored social-psychological correlates to conservative behavior.

Those authors evaluated 88 published studies (some of these were European so the paper is not only about conservatism in the US) to determine if correlations between political conservatism and expectations derived from various behavior theories...they found conservatism to be linked with the following correlations (by order of strength):

death anxiety ( r =50)
system stability (.47)
dogmatism/intolerance to ambiguity (.34)
openness to experience (-.32)
uncertainty tolerance (-.27)
needs for order/structure/closure (.26)
integrative complexity (-.20)
fear of threat and/or loss (.18)
self-esteem (-.09)

[unschooler]

15. So maybe conservativsm will show up on the DSM-IV? Then we can get

these people the help they so desperately need!

[59millionmorons]

5. Easy

-Liberals are cynical (ie if you feed a democrat frog meat and tell them it is chicken we will ask questions)

-Conservatives are gullible (ie If you feed conservatives frog meat and tell them it is chicken meat they will believe you and just keep eating)

Thats how we got into the Iraq war, we knew they were feeding us frog meat and the conservatives just ate it.

[cestpaspossible]

7. They share the same definition: meaningless labels.

[Burma Jones]

9. Liberal - Confident, Educated, Aware, and subsequently angry

Conservative - Frightened, Gullible, Ignorant, and subsequently in charge....

[ArkDem]

10. Dumb and dumber.

[Lexingtonian]

11. Why do you ask?

liberal- a person who knows, or can figure out, what is truly important and respects it. And is practical about all the stuff that is less important. A wise person who has no idolatries.

conservative- a person who can't figure out what is truly important and what isn't. Pretends things are important that are not. Behaves foolishly and is all idolatries.

[elperromagico]

12. I'm interested in how people here define the terms.

They're bandied about so much; let's see what people think they mean.

[suneel112]

16. Simple answers without too much details...

...An economic liberal likes to help those in need DIRECTLY, while an economic conservative pretends to help INDIRECTLY.

Liberals solve real problems, while conservatives make additional problems to solve (most of which they don't, anyways).

Liberals care about improving the overall aura of the world, while conservatives think about making a quick buck at the expense of the world.

Liberals make problems issues, conservatives make issues problems.

Liberals see and deal with issues before they get out of hand (i.e. Anti-Terrorism under Bill Clinton).
Conservatives see and deal with issues AFTER they get out of hand (i.e. Anti-Terrorism under George W. Bush, Sponsoring terrorism under Reagan)

Liberals (i.e. Jesus Christ) use(d) religion for public enlightenment, while conservatives (i.e. GWB) use religion for public nescience.

Liberals think with their heart and brain, while conservatives think with their wallet.

Democracy is a God-given gift to a liberal, while Democracy is nothing more than a share of stock to a conservative.

Humans are individuals to liberals, and interchangeable cogs to conservatives.

Liberals care about the begging hand, while conservatives only care about the invisible hand.

Liberals always cared for the environment, while conservatives have, and will continue to, exploit it.

Conservatives live by the NAME of the Lord, while Liberals live by the ACTIONS and TEACHINGS of the Lord.

To sum it up,
A liberal usually cares for people over money, while a conservative usually cares for money over people.

[Ian_rd]

17. Old and New Conservative Definitions ...

OLD

Conservative: A person who ...

- Typically opposes concentrations of power in the federal government in order to protect individual rights.

- Supports a balanced budget and a restraint on government spending in order to reduce tax burden.

- Supports a strong military, but is wary of foreign intervention in matters not clearly involving U.S. interests such as Bosnia and Somalia. Also supports ample benefits for veterans.

- Opposes the government sticking it's nose into people's private business where is doesn't belong.


NEW

Conservative: A person who ...


- Supports large concentrations of power in the hands of the federal government and the weakening of individual rights in the form of domestic spying, weakened due process protection, the ability to imprison without charge or trial, and allowing torture of prisoners. Gun rights, however, are still sacred.

- Opposes a balanced budget in favor of greatly increased spending in all aspects of the government, expect anything resembling a benefit to the Middle and Lower Classes such as Social Security and Education, while at the same time cutting taxes by the trillions from the super-rich minority. If taxes need to be raised on the Middle and Lower Classes in turn, this is acceptable.

- Supports a strong military and its use anywhere in the world that the President desires to invade. Evidence of a threat is irrelevant. Veteran's benefits are an economic burden not worth adequate funding.

- Believes the government should prohibit certain private behavior, like homosexual sex, marriage, and abortion, right-to-die cases, and should mandate that education be more consistent with Christian religious teachings.


ALWAYS

Liberal: A person who ...


- Supports equal rights and privileges for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.

- Opposes infringements of civil and constitutional rights by the government.

- Supports some measure of wealth redistribution from the rich to the lower economic classes through social programs and safety nets, acknowledging that while the rich benefit greatly from Middle and Lower Class labor, they are not too keen on paying them fairly or enough for a living wage if left on their own.

- Supports military action abroad only after a genuine exhaustion of diplomatic efforts to prevent attacks on allies or humanitarian disaster.

- Believes that the government should not prevent, OR ENDORSE, a religion in any way, shape, or form.

[elperromagico]

18. Good defintions.

[Ian_rd]

20. I suppose ...

I suppose I could also just reprint the Bill of Rights under Liberal as the Rights described appear to be liberal beliefs these days.

[suneel112]

22. I think the old definition for Conservative still applies

There is a word for the new Conservatives, and it is called Fascist or Nazi. I agree with you: true conservatives want as little government intervention (or government spending).

Today, Conservatives are called Centrists, or (from last year), Undecided. In fact, from the true definition of conservative, John Kerry was more conservative than George W. Bush.

From most liberal to most conservative, the government systems in order:

Ideal Communism - Democracy.
Actual Communism - Dictatorship.
Democratic Socialism
Liberal Democracy - Think FDR's America.
Progressive Capitalism
Lassiez-Faire
...
Fascism

Previously, Lassiez-Faire used to be the farthest right that one could go. In the 1930's though, even though America reached the zenith of its economic liberalism, a new system of governmnet came up, called fascism, where the Government directly helps the corporations oppress people world-wide.

However, GWB, the fascist that he is, cannot be called so in a large scale. Fascism brings with it the negative connotation of anti-Semitism, since the first fascist nations had genocide programs. For example, if John Kerry called Bush a fascist, the discussion would digress into a competition over supporting Jews.

Remember that what we are seeing right now is exactly how Fascism started in the early 1930s, and the concentration camps came almost a decade later. Who knows what kind of carnage the Neo-Fascists will throw America into.

[centristo]

19. interesting

I see a big time problem in a lot of the responses here. People here have just as many stereotypes about conservatives as conservatives have of liberals. As a left-leaning centrist, I think I have a less-biased viewpoint since I don't consider myself to be either liberal or conservative.

Liberals - want governmental policies in place to keep fair markets truly fair. want minimal governmental role in private, personal matters. government should protect public welfare, be it the poor, the disadvantaged, the environment, etc. defense should focus on border protection, better intelligence, smaller standing military.

Conservatives - want less governmental business policies in place to enhance profit and lower the barrier of entry. want lower taxes and small government. believes those who work hard and play by the rules will succeed. believe that a strong nuclear family and community are the cornerstones of our civilization and that the government has a role in strengthening those institutions. government should heavily punish those who break the rules. defense should focus on strong military at home and abroad with a large military presence overeseas.


* -Please note that many "conservatives" in Washington these days are conservative in name only. A bloated government with a record-setting deficit is hardly the product of a true conservative government, imho. I have a lot of respect for conservative principles, even though I disagree with many of them (such as the government's presence in my day-to-day affairs). The more we understand each other and that we BOTH want to live in a strong and safe America, the better off we will ALL be. Conservatives are NOT evil demon hell-spawn.

Now let's stop all the fussin' and the fightin'.

[Uncle Joe]

21. The division of the time space continuum

Conservatives mostly live in the past, tradition, ancestors and heritage are their keywords.
Moderates mostly live in the present, compromise, flexibility, and negotiate are their keywords.
Liberals mostly live in the future, self awareness, equality and community are their keywords.
Everybody to some degree lives in all three, but I think primarily this is the way their world (or better yet time) views break down. The friction arises when these keywords or ideals conflict, which from time to time they definitely will.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

23. Most of the definitions here are too specific

For one thing, in Australia, the Liberal Party is right-wing.

There are dozens of ideologies and movements that cause themselves "liberal" or "conservative", although conservative is marginally better defined.

I would say that broadly a conservative is anyone who believes that there exist a set of traditional values which used to be near-universally or more widely adhered to in the past, and are still advocated by "the establishment" and should be held to.

I'm less sure about a liberal. Generally, people who call themselves or are called by others liberals believe that some set of rules, structures or taboos should be done away with. Usually this implies a left-wing attitude, and the construction of a more equitable (i.e with a reduced class structure) and tolerant society, but right-wingers often talk about "liberalising" tax codes and business regulations, meaning reducing them.

So broadly speaking, I'd say that a conservative is someone who wishes to preserve or enlarge a set of rules, and a liberal is someone who wishes to reduce them.

[laugle]

24. And while your at it, please define fascism,

corporate plus government?? Really, someone define it. I have heard many definitions, still not clear on it, and I am not stupid!!

[Been Fishing]

25. Best Definition of Liberal and Conservative

Posted several times when the question is raised:

http://www.liberalslant.com/liberalism.htm

It is still the best definitions I've seen.