Democratic representatives scream about "right-wing conspiracy" while radio talk shows lament the evil of "liberal agenda." News broadcasters are branded as "chauvinist conservatives" by Hollywood pundits or "liberal bigots" by Christian broadcasting. Everywhere someone is firing the label gun plastering liberal or conservative on their opponents and many Americans are scratching their heads trying to understand the division and difference between both.
Liberalism, formed in the latter part of the 18th Century from opposition to existing political monarchies in Europe, was based on rights of individuals and the responsibility of government to protect those rights. Conservative philosophy was born as a reaction to dangerous tendencies
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Conservatives challenged this idea with the traditional concept of individualism. To achieve and contribute to American society each member should be held responsible for their actions, increase their education, and work to foster basic traditional beliefs of love for country and family, self-discipline in the young, and a unfaltering faith in God.
Today the basic ideals of liberalism have been distorted into principals that can only result in destruction of the traditions and values America was founded on. Liberals, through President Johnson's plan and support of the NEA, gained control of the educational system. Today public schools (government schools) disregard basic educational standards producing graduating students without basic math and reading skills. Conservatives turn away from government schools in disgust and home school programs are increasing across America. And guess what...teaching traditional values result in higher achievements for those students. To eliminate poverty liberals have increased taxes at every opportunity they are given. Our welfare program today is based on Johnson's own statement, "The game plan is to tax the country's producers for the benefit of those that don't produce." And look where that philosophy has taken us. The welfare rolls are filled with individuals that base their life on welfare checks. Now
As liberalism ideology evolved and championed by the economic leaders, it pose a threat to the existing social settings such as the presence of the nobility, and the church. The attempt to defend existing social arrangement is what brought about conservatism. Conservatives stood against the ideas of liberals in a rational for maintaining existing traditional political structures and the centralization of power. They stood against transferring political responsibility to the common people under the disguise of equality (Shively, 2014).
The further development of industrialisation led to social and economic inequality. This led to a revision of classical liberal ideas to prevent the spread of ignorance and poverty. It is suggested that modern liberals have betrayed classical liberal ideas as they embrace collectivism and diverge from classical liberalism on issues such as freedom. However, it can be argued that modern liberals have simply built on classical liberal ideas such as its commitment to the individual.
Then liberalism in the United States was also expanded through President Lyndon B. Johnson during the 1960s with his Great Society. Liberalism under President Johnson became a form of social liberalism, which meant that President Johnson thought that liberalism should include social justice. So he expanded liberalism through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Community Reinvestment Act, as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He transferred liberalism into neoliberalism, meaning that it became more focused on the business aspect of the nation that would help determine the political and economic priorities
The second point is that liberalism upholds the principle of equality for all regardless of name, social status, and gender, racial, cultural, or ethnic background. Liberalists advocate for a level playing ground which calls for the government to strictly control the economy and also have more power in the social arena so as to protect people from economic exploitation. Liberalists strongly push for controlled corporations, an economy that is well
Liberalism, in general, was an ideological movement that emerged out of the ideas of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. It embraced the ideas of individualism which were established in the Renaissance and Reformation era. The Renaissance period sparked a belief in the importance of the individual in society. It helped promote the beliefs of classical liberalism which gradually formed into the liberal ideology of the 19th century. Individuals that were waiting to get their individual rights and freedoms were allowed to finally gain liberty and power through this period of time. Classical liberalism developed
Neo-liberalism is associated with economic liberalism whose campaign support provides economic liberations, free trade and open markets, privatization, deregulation and promoting the role of private institutions present in new society. Classic liberalism criticizes the neo-liberalism objective of introducing liberalization to bring about gradual increase of wealth and freedom among nations, however, classic liberalism explains that instead of realization of wealth and freedom, liberalization resulted to constant fight proposals that threatened the progress of achieving wealth and freedom among nations. Neo-liberalism aimed to prevent and control monopoly situations such that if there are no bodies
The ideals and the composition of liberals and conservatives are radically different at times, and yet these same beliefs work together to make up the basic framework of American political thought. They both have the same goals for prosperity and yet they have polar opposite ways of achieving them. Ideologically, they are at odds with the size of government and the role that it plays. Some want big government that provides for people, while others elect for a small government that does not interfere with the lives of people. As is expected liberals tend to vote for certain issues that conservatives will disagree with and vice versa. Of course the issues are not random, each side will vote for and against particular kinds of issues.
Liberalism started with the ideas of the Enlightenment. Two of these ideas were freedom of speech and freedom of the individual, and kept growing from there. Liberalism is the belief in a small central government and no monarchy. The liberalists defended the ideas of the definitive rights of an individual’s liberty, equality and property. The liberalists wanted their government to be established on written laws and a constitution based on equality.
Typically Liberalism can be categorized into two different strands, Classical and Modern (yet some thinkers advocate a third strand that is referred to as Neo-Liberalism), each characterized by their differing and to some extent unavoidably overlapping attitudes regarding the theory behind the ideology and how it should be put into practice. Prior to examining how these relate to one another and before making any comparisons, it is important to give a definition, as best as possible, of Liberalism as a concept.
“On Political Labels” explains the evolution of the words: liberal and conservative. He goes into detail that back in the 19th century and early 20th century a liberal was one that believed in less regulation and less government in your personal
Many people have a strong belief in what side they take a part of, but some others may not be as informed, thus putting them in the middle of the two sides. A few of the topics that liberals and conservatives usually have different views on include abortion, affirmative action, death penalty, the economy, education, stem cell research,climate change, gun control, homeland security, healthcare, immigration, religion & government, same sex marriage, social security, taxes, and welfare. Although many college students do not have a full knowledge on many of these topics, they do have enough to form an opinion on them. Their opinions on these tops are usually what persuade them to fall under either the liberal or conservative category.
What exactly is liberalism? According to Sidlow (2013), liberalism is the belief that "big government" is necessary for the promotion of the common good (p.16). Without government action, many social and economic outcomes for many people would turn out badly. In other words, without
Liberalism is a collection of political, social and economic philosophies that is centered around the rights of personal liberties, civil rights, economic freedom, controlled and democratic government and the rule of law. A controlled and democratic government is instrumental to liberalism. A controlled government is one restricted by the law. The most common example of this can be found in the United States Constitution. The Constitution has outlined the roles and restrictions of each branch of government while also setting a system of checks and balances.
In America, there are three major civic stances: conservatism, liberalism, and libertarianism. The liberal stance is the only stance, which offers the foundation to move forward. The following paper will briefly explain, certain aspects of conservatism and libertarianism, and will advance the idea, America must move forward with a more liberal attitude. At heart, this writing will argue a strong government is of the utmost importance in moving this country forward to the future. While other political agendas advocate liberty and freedom, the liberal stance truly offers a realistic approach and method of achieving those aspects of American life.
Throughout history, liberalism has been a key principle doctrine in which has helped shape Western political philosophy. Western liberalism traditionally presents its core values around individual freedom and equality. It is also typically associated with democracy, capitalism, freedom of religion, and human rights. These principles have been highlighted in Europe and the United States for the past three hundred years and has served as the dominant ideology of modern Western society. However, although liberalism provides well-rooted concepts, there has been misconceptions throughout history that needed reevaluation. For example, laws throughout liberal societies have put constraints on racial and sexual equalities. Religious views have