Comment on American Political Parties by WestSideBilly

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 13:30:36 -0700

The problem of the definitions is that the liberal/conservative paradigm is assumed to be linear and extreme; i.e. far left=liberal=Democrat, far right=conservative=Republican. The truth is that liberalism is really centrist policy, but the word has been mashed to bits and now represents moderate economic socialism and social progressiveness.

There are really two (and arguably three) poles to the liberal/conservative perspective, typically economic freedom and social freedom, with the third being religion. A modern Democrat is someone who is socially and economically liberal; in American parlance this is freedom to choose what is best for one self socially but with market controls , progressive taxation, and enlarged government programs (socialism). A Republican is someone who is socially and economically conservative; in American parlance this societal restrictions on progressive behaviors but with no market controls and minimized government (corporatism). Religion plays no specific role in American political party functions, but secularism vs state religion would be the 3rd axis, and again a liberal would favor secularism while a conservative might favor some degree of religion in government, on the basis of morality countering social progessiveness.

In that sense, the NeoCons who currently infest our government are not true Republicans - they are socially conservative but fairly liberal economically. It should also be noted that these definitions are fairly unique to North American liberalism. Classic liberalism is very laissez faire, but modern American liberalism is generally more socialist.

As for your confusion, unless you've changed substantially in the last few years, your views are socially liberal and economically conservative; people should be free to do as they please and the government should stay away from your paycheck as much as possible. That, in essence, is limited Libertarianism. Who should you vote for? Well, that depends on whether you'd have prefer someone spending your tax dollars on 'socialist' programs or someone telling you how to live your life.