Youth Politics

If you’re thinking that liberals are voting for Obama, and conservatives are voting for McCain, or more specifically, that liberals are Democrats and conservatives are Republicans, then you would be wrong.

Here is the definition of liberal from www.dictionary.com (I’m using the adjective definitions, and only some of them, you can look the rest up at the same address):

1. favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
2. favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
3. open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.

Here is the definition of conservative:

1. disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
2. traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness
3. cautiously moderate

So, these are roughly what make up liberals and conservatives. Democrats and Republicans in and of themselves are not liberal or conservative, however, the Democrats tend to favor social liberalism and the Republicans tend to favor social and economic conservatism. This is largely why people use the terms liberal and Democrat interchangeably, and conservative and Republican interchangeably.

How can someone then be a liberal and a Republican? The answer is simple, and because liberal does not mean Democrat, it is not in conflict. A liberal Republican is an economic conservative with liberal social views. This means a liberal Republican will be in line with the Republican base on economic issues, but will side with the Democrats on social issues such as gay rights, abortion, etc.

What about a conservative Democrat?  A conservative Democrats is for pro-labor rights and is an economic liberal with social conservative views. This means a conservative Democrat will be for traditional family values, pro-life, pro-gun laws while remaining a liberal on economic benefits from the government.

It’s odd that people will make fun of liberals or conservatives, because you could be making fun of something you are yourself. If you’re a Republican because of the economic standpoints, then how can you make fun of liberals who share the same social views as yourself? If you’re a Democrat and believe in pro-life and pro-gun, how can you make fun of conservatives?

There needs to be a change in the way people view these terms. Liberal and conservative should not be interchangeable with Democrat and Republican. I actually believe this is part of the problem in America when it comes to the partisan divide. Too many people take these terms as one in the same when that should not be the case. Already I have been able to split the divide into four parts, and that’s just by looking at these two parties alone! Once people realize that they may not be down the line liberal or down the line conservative, they can start to see for themselves whether they truly belong in the Democratic party or the Republican party.

What are you? Do you know? Are you 100% liberal? Are you an economic conservative and a social liberal? Are you the other way around? 100% conservative? You need to take a look at what you believe and decide. Leave Democrat and Republican alone, I’m not asking about those. You should get a sense of where you fall when it comes to your views. If you’re mixed between a lot of the issues, maybe you’re not either. Maybe you need to identify with a different party. Perhaps you’re party-less and are an independent, taking into account each individual issue one at a time.