politicks

A word on the liberal vs. conservative In a political history class a conservative was defined as "the political belief of preserving traditional moral values by restricting personal freedoms and encouraging prosperity through economic freedom". Not too shabby a definition. Liberal was " the polical belief of equality and personal freedom for everyone, changing the current system to increase government protection of civil liberties" - wow, that sounds fun! And I guess that is why some traditional people are against this... it make liberalism sound so great, with no downside, right? I mean who would want the moral high ground when everybody can just share and get along. I probably used to feel that way, until I realized what hypocrites most liberals are... Its true that conservatism does restrict personal freedom, and that its moral foundation is exclusively religious. So you cannot kill, steal, rape, worship a different god, lie, envy or covet because they are morally wrong, and laws have been written around these moral tenets. It makes for a stable society, when these laws are enforced. However, not everyone is happy, and that is conservatism's main downside. To their credit, conservatives don't promise happiness for everyone, they just enforce a system that works for a majority of people the majority of the time. So its easy to see why there is rebellion against this system. The tenet of: like Santa, "be good and you'll get sugarplums, but if you're naughty, you get coal" doesn't work when bad things happen to good people, despite their best efforts. Or say, when women are systematically belittled and curtailed because that's in the religious texts, too, and therefore considered 'moral'. However, then we come to conservatism's opposite: liberalism. The morality of liberalism has nothing to do with the major religions, rather the ideal that all persons should be treated equally under the law. And they want to enforce this equality with laws to protect liberties. Basically, you can do anything you want to, unless and until it infringes on another's rights to do anything they want to, until it infriges on some other person's rights to do anything they want to...ad infinitum. What you get, is less stability, because there are the constant cries (from every direction) of "foul!" as rights are stomped right and left. Oh sure, it would be nice if we just all respected our little space and each other, but the reality is... well, just watch a group of preschoolers and you'll see. Its not practical. Everybody is suing everyone else over every little infringement, and the system is clogged with complicated and increasingly complicating laws in an effort to get back to every true liberal's ideal: the Plains Indian tribes that peacefully travel with the seasons, following their food sources, worshipping a divinity in their own way, not owning anything, working together in harmony, raising all children as their own, and never going to war. Its true...that is really what they think will happen. True liberals come grudgingly to the table of property rights, because they really don't believe anyone can 'own the land' (just use it for a while). They concede that some ownership must be allowed, but create tons of exceptions: you can't dam that river because it impacts other people using that water, you can't build that wind farm because turbines are an 'eyesore', you can't mine for that mineral, because you ruin the appearance of that ground for everyone else. So how does industry happen? How do people aquire stuff if you are not allowed to make stuff? So liberals back-track and concede: you can mine, but only over there, you can build a pipeline, just as long is it can never pollute a body of water. Are you starting to get the economic picture? Do you see why liberalism is at odds with capitalism? When you try to mix liberalism and capitalism you get arguments like: you HAVE to hire him even though he is unintelligent, lazy, and irresponsible because he has been victimized by someone else's morals! So what is the answer? the stuff you see every day: the political arguments, the vacilation between Republican and Democratic control, the push pull as both sides fight for their ideal one step at a time. No one is really winning. Neither side should 'win'. Maybe someone needs to define a third option...