What is the basic ideas behind conservative and liberal?

When it comes to certain organizations, what are the qualities and ideas behind being conservative versus liberal. How can I tell the difference between the two?What is the basic ideas behind conservative and liberal?
Very good question that more people should ask before they just accept these terms at face value.





Though as one previous answer said, the ';Conservative'; platform is supposed to favor keeping government out of public affairs and private business. In actuality, it seems that they often do just the opposite. ';Conservative'; is, I suppose, meant to refer to allegiance to traditional values, and ';free enterprise';. But realistically it is not an accurate term. Much of the ';Conservative'; agenda is actually quite radical, and enacts laws (such as the Patriot Act) which allow the government to interfere very directly in the lives of American citizens -- reading their mail, listening to their telephone conversations, and so on. It also supports the activity of corporations that do little to serve the public, and spend vast public money to gain profit. Those same corporations enjoy public tax support (Oil Depletion Allowance), and are even bailed out by the government, via your tax dollars, if they fail (Citibank).





I doubt the Founding Fathers would have much agreed with such things, whatever the pretext. So, although I do believe that all people have the right to advocate whatever they wish in a free society, including limiting freedom for the ';public good';, the word ';Conservative'; is in itself a misnomer, as it has little to do with the principles on which this country was founded.





As for ';Liberal'; -- I guess one might say that the term is more accurate. Liberals tend to vote for things that they see as upholding personal freedoms over the dictats of a majority. Abortion, for instance. Taxation for a comprehensive public health system (which most outside the United States have). Free tax-paid college education for those who qualify (ditto). The American Civil Liberties Union is a ';Liberal'; organization often attacked in the ';Conservative'; media. But it is worth noting that organization fights just as hard to allow neo-Nazis to meet and march as they do causes that they might themselves believe in.





Today, though, to be frank -- the lines are drawn. But it is a well-known aspect of Political Science that the extremes of ';Leftist'; and ';Rightist'; governments are in practice very difficult to distinguish, so much they resemble one another.


Stalin was extreme left, for instance -- Hitler extreme right. This may be the fear that drives those who wish to keep everything in the ';Private Sector';. Just as often, though, political paybacks and private interest produce exactly the opposite result: government involved in every phase of life, but making its decisions behind closed doors, rather than publicly. Who is to say which is preferable? In the end, it's this difference that distinguishes ';Republican'; from ';Democrat'; in terms of their basic idea of government. One thinks that power should be given by the public to elected officials to decide what is best, the other thinks it should be up to each person to decide on every issue. That's the true meaning of those two terms, ';Republican';, and :';Democrat'; respectively -- (which is in itself somewhat surprising and contrary to common belief of what each party represents). So once again, your question is a good one to ask.





Whichever side one subscribes to, it is a sure sign of a decadent culture when the two sides lose effective understanding and dialogue. This is sadly the case in the United States today. Whether the polarization is political or economic -- the fact that such extreme differences exist and have no regard for the opinions of the opposite side: it speaks badly of us all.What is the basic ideas behind conservative and liberal?
they are names people call each other to avoid actually debating issues.
Liberals will spend your hard-earned dollar to f*** the rich and help the poor. Conservatives will spend your hard-earned dollar to keep the poor from f*ck*ng. Independents say f*ck the liberals and the conservatives.
Liberals believe in the herd and conservatives believe in the individual.





How the herd would be controled would be by a group of people refered to as the liberal elite. The rest of the herd would have to obey orders.





The weakness for the individual is that it leaves the poor, weak and incompetents stranded to their own fate.
Liberals are idealists and think in terms of how things should be. They live in a fantasy world. They are elitist and consider themselves to be much more enlightened than the common person. Therefore they should be allowed to make the rules for the rest of us but they should not be held accountable for following the rules themselves, after all they're better than the rest of us. They're all about fairness and equality, particularly in the realm of thoughts and feelings, as long as everyone else is forced to agree with their thoughts and feelings. They want to protect the environment as long as it is the common person sacrificing, because they're elite and shouldn't have to give up their own energy consuming ways (i.e....driving SUV's, flying in private jets, etc...).





Conservatives, on the other hand, see the world as it is and they live in reality. They're all about people being responsible for themselves. Well that pretty much sums it up.
Liberals. Conservatives. Parties comprised of Politicians. Politicians are those engaged in Politics.





Politics.





Poli - a variant of Poly, meaning Many.


Tics - a variant of Ticks, meaning Blood-sucking parasites.





Politics therefore, means Many Blood-Sucking Parasites.





There really isn't much difference. Both are capable of causing endless financial headaches for the rest of us, and they don't particularly care.





I know this didn't help, but it was fun, wasn't it?
Conservatism is a minimalist government involved in your life, and lower taxes.





Liberalism means the government is responsible for all of the bad decisions people make and will pay for those mistakes with your tax dollars.
Somewhere in the past we lost our ideals, parties were formed and changed our thinking. As I grew up I voted for people who thought for the good of the nation, not for the good of the party. We begin to lose our way in the 70s, down hill all the way. Look at what each believes and you will not see that much difference. What do we have vote for; one makes us feel good, one seem to know alittle but she is a woman and one who has had a lifetime to gain knowledge.


We have had men in office with IQs over 130 yet what did they accomplish.
A conservative will say one thing and do the opposite and a liberal will lie.
Conservatives are mostly Republicans. Republicans tend to favor big business. They are against things like stem cell research and gay marriage, partly because conservatives are thought to be more religiously conservative as well. Ironically though, they support capital punishment. They're thought of as being quick to use military force and are stronger on issues of security. They're against illegal immigration. They favor tax cuts to stimulate the economy using little government assistance. Yet they also favor more government control over other aspects of life, such as security. (Patriot Act).





Examples are George Bush, McCain, and Pat Robertson.





Liberals are often democrats, and support universal health care, are more concerned with environmental issues, and thus, believe in greater regulation of big businesses. They like lower defense spending. They're also typically in favor of free trade, although, there's a large number of liberals who don't. Liberals like labor unions, support stem cell research, but are against capital punishment, favor gun control, and like higher taxes.





Examples are the Clintons, Al Gore, and Michael Moore.
This might help (about Liberalism):





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bJFbWyVA鈥?/a>
Conservatives believe they can comport their own lives and spend their own money more wisely and more logically than the government can. Liberals believe everything must be regulated because people can't be trusted with their own decisions for their own lives, and that the government can spend their money more wisely and logically than they can.





A good example of money/spending would be health care. A liberal thinks the government should be handling people's health insurance for them while a conservative can see that if there were less tax money withheld from the common paycheck, the payee could afford their own health insurance.





A good example of comportment regulation would be unions. A conservative knows in his/her head that if they were left alone to run a business, they would be more than willing to pay attention to safety regulations, but a liberal believes there should be a watchdog group like a union to FORCE the safety rules that are already being adhered to.
Conservatives like getting stuff done, Liberals like complaining until others fix their problems.