FEDERAL: Differences between Conservatism and Liberalism
Posted : 13 May, 2009 08:59 AM
There is a lot of debating and miscommunication in politics. This is how I understand it and would like to know the opinions of others on here, concerning what distinguishes conservatism and liberalism, without being rude.
Political standpoints can be all over the map. However, if you narrow it down to the vision of how the federal government should act, then you will find it much easier to see the larger groupings.
CONSERVATISM
Conservatism is often determined by first �setting� of their civilization. In the United States, the first constitution was the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. Eventually, this was replaced by the United States Constitution.
http://www.usconstitution.net/articles.html
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
There is a debate on what conservatism is based upon these two documents, but it is often accepted that those that support the Constitution and the original intent of the Founding Fathers are conservatives, though many have taken the name �paleoconservatives� in contrast to �neoconservatives.� This can be seen as a combination of the Federalists� (Nationalists�) and Anti-Federalists� (Confederates and the REAL Federalists�) opinions, which are discussed in the Federalist Papers.
This is a prime example of paleoconservatism: http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php
To those that support changes based upon the past preference of the Articles of Confederation and the original intent of the Founding Fathers--or at least the Confederates--they are labeled �libertarians.� Some have, just with the conservatives, referred to it as �paleolibertarianism� to oppose �neolibertarianism�. In reference to the Founding Fathers, the misnamed Anti-Federalists more closely resemble this. Even Madison, so-called the father of the Constitution, leaned more in the way of them.
While there is/are paleolibertarianism part(y/ies), I would prefer one that supports religion as �the bedrock of liberty, property, and the natural order��and more specifically I would prefer one that gives praise to God in their platform as the Constitution Party does. Here is a source: http://libertarianwiki.org/Paleolibertarian
Many Christians support this category because libertarianism�s roots are in Christianity, as why many Founding Fathers were, and because of the facts revolving around the creation and establishment of the Constitution.
I therefore see the Constitution having its intent, at least from the Jeffersonians� side, from a Christian document: The Articles of Confederation. However, I do not see the Constitution as a Christian document or even an honest document, by how the Hamiltonians went about making it the law of the land.
LIBERALISM
Liberalism is distinct from these two mainly on its position on the interpretation of the Constitution and in that way straying also from the Articles of Confederation�s principles. Since this is a broad category, the most common today are right-populists and left-populists. Originally, such liberals were divided on whether they wanted the federal government to stay out of fiscal choices or to stay out of personal choices.
Because of the vast amount of differences, there are so many different groups, including those who call themselves conservatives. To be fair for this section, here are a few websites.
