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Can someone explain to me "Liberal" and "Conservative"?

HAL9000

HAL9000

Lifer
What a Liberal and a Conservative are in an American politics context, because I keep seeing these words pop up, particularly in this section but they seem to have hugely different meaning from the definitions I am aware of.

Liberal:
Adjective: Open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. Favourable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms
Noun: A person of liberal views
Click to expand...

Conservative:
Adjective: Holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in politics or religion.
Noun: A person who is averse to change and holds to traditional values and attitudes, typically in politics.
Click to expand...

Meaning that to me the opposite of liberal would not be conservative (assuming that it is in American politics) the opposite of liberal would be authoritarian or something similar.

Also if you could answer without expressing your own personal views, I.e. "Liberal means moron and Conservative means intelligent" then that would be great too...
 
The names are only names of the teams.

The St. Louis Rams aren't actually composed of rams. It's just what they call themselves.
 
In today's politics....liberals say they want to spend your money on more gov't programs and they do it.

Conservatives say they want to spend less of your money on gov't but then turn around and spend more of your money on gov't programs.

At least one of them is honest enough to tell you what they will do with your money.
 
JockoJohnson said:
In today's politics....liberals say they want to spend your money on more gov't programs and they do it.

Conservatives say they want to spend less of your money on gov't but then turn around and spend more of your money on gov't programs.

At least one of them is honest enough to tell you what they will do with your money.
Click to expand...

So Liberals are for big government and Conservatives are for small?
 
HAL9000 said:
What a Liberal and a Conservative are in an American politics context, because I keep seeing these words pop up, particularly in this section but they seem to have hugely different meaning from the definitions I am aware of.





Meaning that to me the opposite of liberal would not be conservative (assuming that it is in American politics) the opposite of liberal would be authoritarian or something similar.

Also if you could answer without expressing your own personal views, I.e. "Liberal means moron and Conservative means intelligent" then that would be great too...
Click to expand...

The definitions you posted are almost exactly opposite each other. I'm not sure where your confusion is coming from here.

I'm not sure why you're bringing in authoritarianism, but both our liberals and conservatives are authoritarian. Our libertarians are the opposite of that.
 
HAL9000 said:
So Liberals are for big government and Conservatives are for small?
Click to expand...

Nope. Conservatives IN gov't might say they are but their actual policies create more gov't just the same as liberals. I never said conservatives are for small gov't. I said that conservative politicians lie.

When I gave my definition, I am referring to liberal and conservative politicians in the federal gov't.
 
Liberals and Conservatives are different sides of the same coin. When it comes down to it, we get the same thing in government no matter which team wins. Everybody loses to the special interests. So the definition of both are "Sheep."
 
mugs said:
The definitions you posted are almost exactly opposite each other. I'm not sure where your confusion is coming from here.

I'm not sure why you're bringing in authoritarianism, but both our liberals and conservatives are authoritarian. Our libertarians are the opposite of that.
Click to expand...

True, they are but they don't seem to be the definitions that are used in this forum.

JockoJohnson said:
Nope. Conservatives IN gov't might say they are but their actual policies create more gov't just the same as liberals. I never said conservatives are for small gov't. I said that conservative politicians lie.

When I gave my definition, I am referring to liberal and conservative politicians in the federal gov't.
Click to expand...

Hmm OK, still confused.

woolfe9999 said:
Don't you have left and right wing parties in the UK? How is left and right defined there?
Click to expand...

Yeah we do, we have three main parties. Labour on the left, Conservatives on the right and Liberal Democrats in the middle, we use the same words but they seem to mean very different things here, Conservative means "Holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in politics or religion." and Liberal means "Open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. Favourable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms" but when I post something like "I think guns should be banned" on here I get called "Liberal" And I'm like WTF?! That's the complete opposite of Liberal....

So needless to say I'm confused.
 
The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it.
Click to expand...
P J O'Rourke
(whom Colbert ripped off last night)
 
HAL9000 said:
True, they are but they don't seem to be the definitions that are used in this forum.



Hmm OK, still confused.



Yeah we do, we have three main parties. Labour on the left, Conservatives on the right and Liberal Democrats in the middle, we use the same words but they seem to mean very different things here, Conservative means "Holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in politics or religion." and Liberal means "Open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. Favourable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms" but when I post something like "I think guns should be banned" on here I get called "Liberal" And I'm like WTF?! That's the complete opposite of Liberal....

So needless to say I'm confused.
Click to expand...

Do your liberals and conservatives have differing views about the size of government and its role in the economy? Do your conservatives oppose things like social safety nets, socialized medicine, etc? Do your conservatives campaign for lower taxes?

I suspect the difference between left/right here and in the UK (and the rest of Europe for that matter) is that while conservatives adhere to traditional values and liberals are open to change in both cultures, there isn't the huge disagreement between the two about the size and role of government in Europe like there is here. One thing I think conservatives here do have in common with the European right is advocacy of stricter immigration policies.
 
Translator

Code: 
USA --------------------------- UK (im guessing here)
------------------------------------------------------
Liberal (democrat)            =   Communist
Libertarian                       = Liberal
Conservative  (republican) = Conservative
Independent                    = Liberal Democrats
 
Last edited:
brandonb said:
Translator

USA --------------------------- UK (im guessing here)
------------------------------------------------------
Liberal (democrat) = Communist
Libertarian = Liberal
Conservative = Conservative
Independent = Liberal Democrats
Click to expand...

OK, that is helpful, but do The Democrat party really = the communist party in America?

Also, we have Independent parties, the Liberal Democrats aren't one of them.
 
There is an official communist party but communist is a dirty word here, so most communists are likely members of the democratic party, so they actually have a chance to get elected. But typically the democratic party here is more authorative than liberal. They like to ram things down peoples throats if they like it or not (their views) which is the opposite of freedom. Which is why I listed it as communist, but maybe socialist is a better word, not sure. Alot of those words don't mean much here because communist/socialist are both dirty words. Democrat/liberal has a nicer ring to it.
 
HAL9000 said:
Can someone explain to me "Liberal" and "Conservative"?
Click to expand...

The Media and general population use Liberal and Conservative in very poor ways. In particular, Republicans use Liberal as slang for any Democrat. Democrats use Conservative for any Republican.

It is my ideal to argue for the maximum extent of freedom as possible, yet I am not called Liberal. The closer towards Liberal a Republican becomes, the more extremist we are called, for we are not the compromisers and deal makers who pander to authority.

We must beware the 'middle' of our Left / Right political spectrum for they are neither Liberal nor Conservative but are united behind Authoritarianism. Many of those folks are mistaken for Liberals and Conservatives when they are opposite of everything we hold dear.
 
brandonb said:
There is an official communist party but communist is a dirty word here, so most communists are likely members of the democratic party, so they actually have a chance to get elected. But typically the democratic party here is more authorative than liberal. They like to ram things down peoples throats if they like it or not (their views) which is the opposite of freedom. Which is why I listed it as communist, but maybe socialist is a better word, not sure. Alot of those words don't mean much here because communist/socialist are both dirty words. Democrat/liberal has a nicer ring to it.
Click to expand...

Hmm interesting, you sound a little biased, but still an interesting perspective. I was of the (outsider) impression that the republican party were more authoritative than the democrat party, more religious nut jobs and gun owners.... etc.
 
Jaskalas said:
The Media and general population use Liberal and Conservative in very poor ways. In particular, Republicans use Liberal as slang for any Democrat. Democrats use Conservative for any Republican.

It is my ideal to argue for the maximum extent of freedom as possible, yet I am not called Liberal. The closer towards Liberal a Republican becomes, the more extremist we are called, for we are not the compromisers and deal makers who pander to authority.

We must beware the 'middle' of our Left / Right political spectrum for they are neither Liberal nor Conservative but are united behind Authoritarianism. Many of those folks are mistaken for Liberals and Conservatives when they are opposite of everything we hold dear.
Click to expand...

It's really interesting that the more liberal you get (taking the definition in the OP) the less of a "liberal" you are seen as! It's a very bizarre use of these words.
 
IceBergSLiM said:
LIberals - In love with unfunded entitlement programs

Conservatives - In love with unfunded wars.

Same clowns in different make up.
Click to expand...

OK, so liberals are looking for more of a welfare state system? And conservatives are looking for more of an aggressive foreign policy?
 
HAL9000 said:
OK, so liberals are looking for more of a welfare state system? And conservatives are looking for more of an aggressive foreign policy?
Click to expand...

Exactly.

We have no trustworthy politicians on either side of the aisle.

Calling Democrats 'communists' is hugely laughable though, that guy's been indoctrinated by too much right-wing radio.

Here in the US your 'conservatives' would be far to the left of our most liberal democrats. As a nation we are incredibly far to the right of UK politics.

<--- I am a classical conservative, with a hands-off ethic on foreign policy and social issues.
 
A liberal in today's context believes government has a responsibility to protect people from discrimination. This is where the claim of "big" government comes into play.

A conservative in today's context believes that the "free" market will protect people from discrimination. This where the claim of "small" government comes into play.
 
Arkaign said:
Exactly.

We have no trustworthy politicians on either side of the aisle.

Calling Democrats 'communists' is hugely laughable though, that guy's been indoctrinated by too much right-wing radio.

Here in the US your 'conservatives' would be far to the left of our most liberal democrats. As a nation we are incredibly far to the right of UK politics.

<--- I am a classical conservative, with a hands-off ethic on foreign policy and social issues.
Click to expand...

Yeah I do get the impression that the US is very "Right wing" I find it incredible that (from what you are saying) Liberals are to the right and conservatives are to the left. It's the complete opposite over here, as the definitions of the words would back up.
 
her209 said:
A liberal in today's context believes government has a responsibility to protect people from discrimination. This is where the claim of "big" government comes into play.

A conservative in today's context believes that the "free" market will protect people from discrimination. This where the claim of "small" government comes into play.
Click to expand...

In that case I can kind of understand the "Communism" statement from earlier, with communism and capitalism being the extreme of the two ethos'
 
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