Defining Liberal and Conservative

I am an news and information junkie. I cannot get enough. I am addicted. I watch the news, listen to the news and read the news a couple of hours every day. I have not the slightest idea why I input all of this news and information into my aging brain. I really cannot do anything with it except hopefully form opinions on issues, which I like to think are informed opinions. Alas, having information from which to form opinions is no longer in vogue. The airwaves and the Internet are jammed with opinions not based upon accurate information or upon careful analysis. It seems to me that the news today is analyzed from a political perspective rather than from a basic set of personal principles: a creed. Today, a person or idea is labeled either a conservative or a liberal based upon one's political perspective and so the the vast majority of opinions presented tend to be one or the other, with each one claiming to present the exclusive "fair and balanced" position. It seems to me that a person is rarely ever a pure conservative or liberal. The fact that no clear and concise definition of those two terms is at hand makes the opinions proffered even less informed. Each presenter hurls the terms liberal and conservative at the other side as if they were the ultimate derogatory nuclear bombs. What if reality is that we are all somewhat liberal and somewhat conservative. It is entirely possible that we are all pragmatists.

Everyone has an idea of what is conservative and what is liberal, but do we all have the same idea. For example, is giving women the right to vote a liberal or a conservative position. In the late 1890s up to the 1930s it was most certainly a liberal idea. Is it still a liberal idea in Western countries today now that women in those countries have the right to vote? What about in some other countries, mainly in the Near East and Middle East? In such countries it would not only be considered liberal but blasphemously so. Do the definitions of what issues are liberal and what issues are conservative change with time? Do such definitions change with place? When you call an idea or someone liberal or conservative do you mean the same thing as I understand the words liberal or conservative? Well in the overwhelming desire to aid good communications I will proceed to define the terms.

Lest start with the term liberal. Liberalism, according the Wikipedia, is a broad class of political philosophies that considers individual liberty and equality to be the most important political goals. Liberals, or at least constitutional liberalism, encompasses support for: freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, an individual's right to private property,[2] and a transparent system of government. This seems to me to be exactly the thinking of the founders of this nation. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal). But wait, don't conservatives also claim to believe in these same values. Something does not compute.

Looking again at Wikipedia we find that liberalism appears in two broad forms: Classical liberalism, which emphasizes the importance of individual liberty, and social liberalism which emphasizes some kind of redistribution of wealth.[7] Those who identify themselves as classical liberals, to distinguish themselves from social liberals, oppose all government regulation of business and the economy, with the exception of laws against force and fraud, and support free market laissez-faire capitalism. Oh Darn. there are two entirely different types of liberals. It appears that the founders of this Country would be labeled classical liberals, but not modern day liberals. How the deuce do we distinguish between a classical liberal and a social liberal? Which one is meant when one says a person or position is liberal? Wikipedia says In the United States, "liberalism" is most often used in the sense of social liberalism, which supports some regulation of business and other economic interventionism which they believe to be in the public interest.

So, the United States is a country that was founded by classical liberals but is currently being run by modern liberals, who have beliefs that are different from those of the founders. To make this even more confusing, Wikipedia says that in Europe, the term liberalism is closer to the economic outlook of American economic conservatives. Say what? Even the use of the term liberal today means something entirely different in different places. So, if I say to a person from Europe visiting in the United States that a certain idea is liberal he may well understand what I am saying as something entirely different from what I mean.

Lets see if the term conservative is a bit easier. I remember from my study of American History that when the Republic was being founded the conservatives wanted to remain part of England and retain the monarchy. Wikipedia says in Western politics today the term conservatism often refers to the school of thought started by Edmund Burke and similar thinkers. Now I remember studying the Englishman's philosophy* in college so this one should be much easier. Conservative political parties have diverse views; the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, the Republican Party in the United States, the Conservative Party in Britain, and the Liberal Party of Australia are all major conservative parties with varying positions. Wait a minute- multiple Burke's? Views, not philosophies? Reading further, conservatism in the United States includes a variety of political ideologies including fiscal conservatism, supply-side economics, social conservatism, libertarian conservatism as well as support for a strong military. Modern American conservatism was largely born out of alliance between classical liberals and social conservatives in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So modern conservatism is a merger of classical liberalism and social conservatism, leaving out social liberalism.

Thus we have the modern definitions:

Liberalism mean the belief in a system that supports business regulation and redistribution of wealth for the common good as well as a government of sufficient size and power to accomplish it. Liberals may or may not believe in individual freedom, a republican form of government, a capitalist economic system or democratically elected officials (although most in the United States probably do). Those are apparently not part of the main core beliefs of liberalism.

Conservatism means a belief in individual freedom, freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of government, the rule of law, an individual's right to private property and a transparent system of government, all from classical liberalism, as well as fiscal conservatism (frugality? restraint?). Core conservatives beliefs do not espouse a belief in any particular system of government (aristocracy, oligarchy, monarchy) as long it is based upon the rule of law (but again, most in the United States probably believe in a democratic republic).

This must mean that George W. Bush was in fact a modern day liberal and that Bill Clinton was in fact a modern day conservative based upon what each did while in office. Right? Having established definitions for the terms how do I know that another person using those terms means the same thing as the definitions I have derived? You know what? I am too old to worry about it. I at least know what I mean and I have decided that I am a classical liberal pragmatist. You can go look this one up for yourself. I am going to watch the news.


* I must confess that my minor is in Political Philosophy.