Liberalism & Conservatism definitions

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A 1976 World Book encyclopedia set was my first special interest as a child. I was obsessed with it for years. I still have the same set and was flipping through it recently. G on the topic of Government.

Definitions caught my eye:

"Conservatism: is a political belief based on making changes in line with proven values of the past. Most American conservatives, for example, want to hold public governments strictly within the limits of their powers as set forth in the Constitution."

"Liberalism: is a political belief based on a willingness to change ideas and policies to meet problems as they occur."

Put as simply as that, Liberalism would be the perfect vehicle, with no equal, to reverse engineer a desired outcome based on a problem either real, perceived or manufactured.

Liberalism is all about democracy and liberty.

Conservatism is all about nostalgia.

I would agree that Liberalism is an ideology compatible with a true (majority/mob rules) democracy of which the U.S. is not.

I would disagree with Liberalism being "all about liberty".

A Conservative is a person who has just been robbed.

A Liberal is a person who has just been arrested.

Both have multiple definitions.

True Liberalism is classical liberalism and directly opposed to socialism and what is mainstream left wing politics today.

Conservatism varies by nation, here in the UK its the monarchy and the class system. This is what American conservatives rebelled against.

An overly conservative person is one who FEELS robbed---of the opportunity to rob others.

An overly liberal person is one who coddles robbers, blaming the socioeconomic situation as a default.

Not everyone changes their political beliefs at the drop of a hat.

I disagree. Many people (including Murray Rothbard) regard Adam Smith as a proto-Marxist.

In reality, the classic liberals had many different attitudes towards economics, depending on the individual. They were united against absolute monarchy.

Once the threat of absolute monarchy died down, the classic liberals began fighting amongst themselves for control of the new democratic world that they had created. This is what created modern conservatism, libertarianism, liberalism, Marxism ect.



America's founding fathers were liberals.

You've never served on a jury, have you?

I enjoyed "12 Angry Men."

I wish they would do a 2018 version, with all sorts of people serving.

Conservatism is the belief in traditional values, whatever they might be. It is a cultural concept, rather than an economic concept. If a nation and culture traditionally has held the belief that capitalism is good, conservatives would favor that position.

In-fact, the strongest opponents to free trade in the 18th and 19th century were the conservatives. They were in favor of protectionism.

Conservatism has to do with culture and traditions.

Liberals are, as the word implies... liberal. They believe in the liberty to choose one's own culture and adopt traditions that fits the individual.

Again, it has nothing to do with economics, although there are two main positions for Conservatives and Liberals:

While they both agree to the traditional workfare instead of welfare and the right to own property, Liberals and Conservatives differ, economically speaking, on the issues of free trade vs. protectionism. And that's about it.

On cultural issues however, like abortion, death penalty, press censorship etc. it is where Liberals and Conservatives really have their issues against each other. Liberals tend to favor free press, pro-abortion, anti-death penalty while Conservatives believe in religious laws, and so tend to be against abortion, pro-death penalty and pro-censorship.

I know that American definitions of Liberalism/Conservatism differs from european definitions, but I think you americans really have messed things up. In America, a "Liberal" is what you call a communist... in Europe you would never ever think of associating a liberal with the Soviet Union. Ever. Liberals are by definition anti-communist and anti-conformist.

While you can have liberal socialists (who believe in welfare and equality but also in free press etc.) as is common in Scandinavian countries, Classical Liberalism is about:

Culture:
* Anti-DP
* Pro-abortion.
* Free press
Other liberal (read: policies that increase liberty) issues.

Economics:
* Free trade
* No welfare
* Low taxes.

In America, you call those sorts of liberals "Libertarians" but in Europe, a Libertarian is closer to an anarchist (anarcho-capitalism) than Liberals.

Then you have the in-betweens like Social-Liberals (whom differ from liberal socialists) in that they believe in capitalism and free-market forces, but are willing to pay extra taxes to support welfare.

Socialists are a little more extreme, in that they want to abolish capitalism altogether, but most socialists in Scandinavian countries accept capitalism. They are Social-Democrats.

Social-Democrats are very much Conservative on cultural issues but centre-left on economics and welfare.

A Reactionary is a Conservative who wants to go back in time, to the time before the rise of political parties, a Reactionary is someone who is very close to Fascism.

Last edited by thinkinginpictures on 24 Jul 2018, 9:37 am, edited 2 times in total.

A Reactionary is someone who just "reacts," rather than attempt to come up with solutions.

I've always thought of reactionaries as an extreme form of conservatism. Like Trump vs. McCain. McCain is conservative, Trump is reactionary.

McCain is the type who seeks to come up with solutions. I was considering voting for him against Obama, actually. He was a Prisoner of War, and I find him to be a really cool guy.

Trump just wails about "fake news" all the time. He just "reacts, reacts, reacts" via Twitter.

The definitions in my OP would relate to government terminology in the U.S. since the definitions were quoted from a U.S. encyclopedia. I realize that there are differing definitions and the words meaning different things in different countries.

Reading that definition of Liberalism from that encyclopedia hit me like a lightening bolt:

"Liberalism: is a political belief based on a willingness to change ideas and policies to meet problems as they occur."

It's an absolutely brilliant political ideology to utilize for agenda or hidden agenda driven change and it bears repeating that it's perfectly suited to reverse engineer any desired outcome provided you can convince enough people that the "problem" at hand (either real, perceived or manufactured) warrants "change". The media has clearly been used as the arm to shape public opinion to whatever the end/ends may be.

Rham Emanuel (Obama's former Chief of Staff and current mayor of Chicago) illustrated the point very well when he said: "Never let a good crisis go to waste." The "crisis" being the "problem". reverse engineer the desired outcome from that in the form of law or laws and you've accomplished your goal.

It would be a Utopian Heaven on earth if "crises" and "problems" could not be manufactured, manipulated, exaggerated or otherwise represented untruthfully. However, since they can be, those in power that ascribe to such an ideology wield in it a terribly dangerous weapon of "change" being able to use it for their own gain at the overall detriment to society.

I would also argue, based on the definitions in the OP of Conservatism and Liberalism that between the two Liberalism would be the political ideology more effective at manipulating and controlling people.

Liberals believe in pro choice. It's up for the woman if they want to have an abortion or if they want to put their baby up for an adoption

Liberals believe in welfare. They understand that not everyone is privilege so they want to help others and not have those go homeless or starve or not have kids because they will never climb up the social ladder and not everyone has skills that will get them a higher class.

Liberals want tighter gun laws because not everyone is fit to have a gun and there are people out there who shouldn't be allowed to have guns. Look at school shootings.

Liberals are for universal healthcare.


Conservatives believe in pro choice and are against birth control. They think women don't have a right to their bodies and if they are raped, too bad, it's your fault for putting yourself in that position. Face the consequence and have the baby. Having medical issues, too bad, having a baby is a big sacrifice so even if you die, too bad, even if you are only ten years old. They believe birth control messes with mother nature and a baby should happen if it does if you choose to have sex.

Conservatives are against welfare and think it's only a temporary thing to help people out of temporary situations. If you have a disability, too bad. If you are low intelligent, too bad. If you lack skills, too bad. It's all your fault and you are better off dead.

Conservatives believe anyone should have rights to guns. If you are mentally unstable, you can have a gun even though you are violent and have been suicidal before. You can have a gun because a gun is a right, not a privilege. Who cares about innocent people.

Conservatives are against universal healthcare and believe people should take care of their own health and pay for their own medical insurance. f**k people with disabilities, f**k people who can't get an education and go to college, you should go into $200,000 debt for a degree and if you couldn't pass, your fault, you must not have tried hard enough. Oh you got into an accident and now have a $100,000 medical bill even after medical insurance, too bad, your problem, file bankruptcy.

I am a burden to all the conservatives out there. I would kill myself if it weren't for my family because I am burden and there is no point in living if I am a drain to the society. Liberals would be sad, conservatives would not care because one less burden to take care of.