I've been in the habit of using the terms "Conservative" and "Liberal" on this site. As I have a general idea of what they mean, I haven't bothered to actually define them. But I have had some comments from a few individuals at various times that the terms are just labels and don't necessarily convey ideas accurately. So, I thought I would try to actually define them. I went out to the net to try to find a straighforward definition of each one and I actually had a hard time. It seems that what's out there gets lost in a host of different shades, permutations, histories, etc. After some considerable searching, I found the following definitions that fit most succinctly with my personal view.:
Found at IRCPolitics.org
Conservative - Represented by the Republican party, or political Right. One who generally favors economic liberty, free markets, private property, privatization of business and lower taxes. They claim to want less, or limited Government. They prefer personal freedoms over equality and they support a strong national defense. Their champion is probably Ronald Reagan.
Liberal - Represented by the Democrat party, or the political Left. A Liberal is one who generally leans towards Democratic Socialism and even some degree of Marxism. They support the welfare state, Social Security and Socialized Healthcare. They believe that by raising taxes, and redistributing wealth, Government can eliminate the social inequalities they abhor. Their champion is probably Franklin D. Roosevelt.
I found the above definition of liberal to be a little extreme. I thing the key terms of this are "leans toward." I don't consider liberalism full-fledged Socialism or Marxism, but I would say that liberal thinking and beliefs is a strong bridge toward those things.
Ironically, I found the Wikipedia definition of liberalism to sound rather conservative to my ears:
Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophies that consider individual liberty to be the most important political goal.
Liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. Within liberalism there are various streams of thought which compete over the use of the term "liberal" and may propose very different policies, but they are generally united by their support for a number of principles, including freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, an individual's right to private property, free markets, and a transparent system of government. All liberals, as well as some adherents of other political ideologies, support some variant of the form of government known as liberal democracy, with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law.
Modern liberalism has its roots in the Age of Enlightenment and rejected many foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, established religion, and economic protectionism. Liberals argued that economic systems based on free markets are more efficient and generate more prosperity.
The first modern liberal state was the United States of America, founded on the principle that "all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to insure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Well, after that, I had to look up conservatism on Wikipedia and here's what I found for that:
Conservatism is a political and social term whose meaning has changed in different countries and time periods, but which usually indicates support for the status quo or the status quo ante. In Western politics, conservatism refers to the school of thought started by Edmund Burke and similar thinkers. Scholar R.J. White once put it this way:
"To put conservatism in a bottle with a label is like trying to liquify the atmosphere … The difficulty arises from the nature of the thing. For conservatism is less a political doctrine than a habit of mind, a mode of feeling, a way of living."
Russell Kirk considered conservatism "the negation of ideology".
Conservative political parties have diverse views. For instance, the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, the Conservative Party in Britain, and the Liberal Party of Australia are all major conservative parties with varying positions.
Cultural conservatism is a philosophy that supports preservation of the heritage of a nation or culture.
To me, that definition is pretty off. To me, conservatism is not a vague concept, neither is it a "negation of ideology." And it's much more than just to preserve what once was, although that is a part of it. But preserving what was just for the sake of preserving it is not the point. The point of preserving what was is to generally think that what was had a lot of things about it that are better than what we currently see. However, we need to have a basis for deciding what to preserve. To me, the reason to preserve things is because things were generally more conservative before than what they are now.
So, how would I define conservatism and liberalism?
Conservatism: The belief that government has a vital, but limited role to play in our society. Government is to provide for a common defense and an orderly society. The belief that individual freedom and liberty are worth defending, both domestically and internationally. The belief that for freedom to survive, it must rest on a moral and religious foundation. The belief that the free markets are the best way to lift up the general standard of living in a country.
Liberalism: (I actually had a hard time defining it, so this is more of what I see it as, my observations, than an actual definition, per se. I would be very interested to see what others say is the definition of liberalism.) I see current liberalism as driven by an over-riding sense of injustice in society. As such, it is the belief that government must provide for the equality of all. Government is generally regarded as favorable and should grow to encompass more programs to help more people. I see current liberalism as tending toward more secularism, more centralization of power, more government intervention on behalf of the "little guy."
So there it is. Maybe, this will help us get beyond just the labels and actually talk about what, specifically, we mean by these things.
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Liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. Within liberalism there are various streams of thought which compete over the use of the term "liberal" and may propose very different policies, but they are generally united by their support for a number of principles, including freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, an individual's right to private property, free markets, and a transparent system of government. All liberals, as well as some adherents of other political ideologies, support some variant of the form of government known as liberal democracy, with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law.
Modern liberalism has its roots in the Age of Enlightenment and rejected many foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, established religion, and economic protectionism. Liberals argued that economic systems based on free markets are more efficient and generate more prosperity.
The first modern liberal state was the United States of America, founded on the principle that "all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to insure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Well, after that, I had to look up conservatism on Wikipedia and here's what I found for that:
Conservatism is a political and social term whose meaning has changed in different countries and time periods, but which usually indicates support for the status quo or the status quo ante. In Western politics, conservatism refers to the school of thought started by Edmund Burke and similar thinkers. Scholar R.J. White once put it this way:
"To put conservatism in a bottle with a label is like trying to liquify the atmosphere … The difficulty arises from the nature of the thing. For conservatism is less a political doctrine than a habit of mind, a mode of feeling, a way of living."
Russell Kirk considered conservatism "the negation of ideology".
Conservative political parties have diverse views. For instance, the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, the Conservative Party in Britain, and the Liberal Party of Australia are all major conservative parties with varying positions.
Cultural conservatism is a philosophy that supports preservation of the heritage of a nation or culture.
To me, that definition is pretty off. To me, conservatism is not a vague concept, neither is it a "negation of ideology." And it's much more than just to preserve what once was, although that is a part of it. But preserving what was just for the sake of preserving it is not the point. The point of preserving what was is to generally think that what was had a lot of things about it that are better than what we currently see. However, we need to have a basis for deciding what to preserve. To me, the reason to preserve things is because things were generally more conservative before than what they are now.
So, how would I define conservatism and liberalism?
Conservatism: The belief that government has a vital, but limited role to play in our society. Government is to provide for a common defense and an orderly society. The belief that individual freedom and liberty are worth defending, both domestically and internationally. The belief that for freedom to survive, it must rest on a moral and religious foundation. The belief that the free markets are the best way to lift up the general standard of living in a country.
Liberalism: (I actually had a hard time defining it, so this is more of what I see it as, my observations, than an actual definition, per se. I would be very interested to see what others say is the definition of liberalism.) I see current liberalism as driven by an over-riding sense of injustice in society. As such, it is the belief that government must provide for the equality of all. Government is generally regarded as favorable and should grow to encompass more programs to help more people. I see current liberalism as tending toward more secularism, more centralization of power, more government intervention on behalf of the "little guy."
So there it is. Maybe, this will help us get beyond just the labels and actually talk about what, specifically, we mean by these things.
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