A mystery for me about American politics. Why is the opposition between conservatives and liberals? In other countries liberals are in the middle of the political spectrum.

by pantagruella Posted 2012/08/14 00:14:00

Related Topics: American, Eat, Country, Politics, America, Middle, Mystery, Countries, 1950s, Need, Read

25 votes
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	There is no left wing in America. There can be none.	0 votes	0%
	We don't know what this left wing is. Can we eat it?	2 votes	8%
	They were all swept away in the 1950s by J Edgar.	0 votes	0%
	Other countries are stupid.	0 votes	0%
	To be on the left you need to read big books. That's not out thingg.	0 votes	0%
	There are no peasants and serfs in the US. That's why.	0 votes	0%
	What you call socialists we call liberals. It's simple.	5 votes	20%
	There never can be a revolution of the people in the US.	0 votes	0%
	The US is a country where people can win and losers come nowhere.	0 votes	0%
	Undecided	8 votes	32%
	All of the above	3 votes	12%
	None of the above	7 votes	28%

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Transquesta 2012/08/14 06:42:21

None of the above

+4
The word/distinction 'liberal' means different things in different countries/cultures. Even in the states it can refer to old style leftists (more like anarchists), modern-day socialists (Obama, Inc.), social democrats (socialism with a prettier name), and classical liberals (libertarians).

Anyway, just like the word 'conservative,' 'liberal almost has no real meaning anymore. When I use the term, I use it in conjunction with statist--as in lib or conservative-flavored statist. This distinguishes between Marxian socialists (liberals) and Mussolinian socialists (conservatives), but both are statists. Statism is the practice or doctrine of giving a centralized government control over economic planning and policy. In general, statists believe the government/government regulation is the answer for everything.

Excellent question, though!
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More polls by pantagruella

Classical Liberal 2012/08/14 14:01:09

What you call socialists we call liberals. It's simple.

+2
This country was born from a political philosophy (not conservatism, LIBERALISM) that finds socialism repugnant.

Europe has a long history of economic control and oppression. The only thing that the liberals truly managed to change in Europe is how the oppressors are chosen.

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Turings... to Classic... 2012/08/14 16:50:49

+1
Sadly, Liberalism meant something wholly different to our Founding Fathers than it means to us today.

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Classic... to Turings... 2012/08/15 02:34:11

+1
Liberalism was actually coined in Europe. I don't think any of our founding fathers referred to themselves as liberals.

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sockpuppet to Classic... 2012/08/15 04:39:30

Pretty valid observations, there.

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ģhøṡτ øώl 2012/08/14 13:18:51

Undecided

The further we (supposedly) "progress" in American Society the more and more polarized everything is becoming. The "right" maintains their concrete stance and the left expands further and further towards Marxism, whether they are willing to admit it or not. It's also sad how stereotypical the common person's point of view is on politics. SO many people ON BOTH SIDES have these big opinions of things, yet have NO CLUE what they are talking about when it comes down to the clear understanding Philosophy, Sociology and Politics. More often than not, people just flap their jaws and vote based upon whatever stigma they carry.

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wamcalif 2012/08/14 09:48:29 (edited)

Undecided

+1
On the face of it, it seems the political party system serves as nothing more than a method of keeping the masses at each other's throat. You have a very small percentage of rich and powerful people in this country, that require that those with far less, continue to bust their behinds everyday, pay taxes, and otherwise keep America rolling.

Many so called liberals actually have decent incomes and investment capital. Many so called conservatives don't have a pot to piss in. Of course the reverse is also true. The masses of all political parties want the same for their families and children. No party has a "moral high ground" over the other. The elite have been very good at keeping people distracted and divided. Their success mandates that they do so, and the media is the method by which it is done.

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Monkey D. Luffy 2012/08/14 09:22:50

We don't know what this left wing is. Can we eat it?

We don't have the political system divided like that here..dunno what ppl keep talking about and more annoyingly, what they keep sharing when I don't understand a thing..
Anyway..

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Katherine 2012/08/14 08:56:28

Undecided

Well I'm probably not going to explain this very well. It's often used as an umbrella term for left wing verses right wing. To be more specific, our Democrat and Republican parties own politics. We have lots of other parties, but with no real power or influence. So it's made to look like democrat = liberal, republican = conservative. Not really the case. Liberal use to mean pertaining to the free man and believed in laissez faire economics, among other things. But it's used interchangeably with those who believe in capitalism, and those who hate capitalism (leftists). Can't wait for a leftist to "correct" me. I have classical liberal friends on the same side as me. Em. I'm sure once socialist doesn't have a stigma attached to it (naughty word), this will get a lot less confusing.

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Ross in Oz 2012/08/14 08:14:49

Undecided

We have the LNP which stands for "Liberal National Party" after the Liberal Party and the National Party joined forces to be the main conservative party in Australia. So we tend to refer to liberals as conservatives and vice-versa.

(Then we have the Labor Party, which refers to the bunch of retards wrecking our economy right now as I speak. This come about when an unholy alliance was forged between these people and the commie greens.)

So when I talk to Americans I find myself wondering what they're going on about when they refer to 'liberals' and 'conservatives' as being at opposing ends of the political arena.

So what's the go?

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Walt 2012/08/14 08:06:10

None of the above

In the U.S., liberals represent a belief in ever-growing big government, growth in new laws to govern aspects of everyone's lives, growth of entitlement programs, and increases in taxation to cover all of this.

In the U.S., Conservatives represent a belief in the government butting the hell out of people's daily lives unless it is absolutely necessary, people working productively to make their own money (not government handouts), and lessening taxes in the belief that private enterprise grows the economy.

Regardless of whatever liberalism or conservatism represents in your part of the world, that's what they represent here. Despite many politicians pretending to be Conservatives, there really aren't very many Conservatives in government here. Most of them don't have a clue what really being Conservative is all about. (In a nutshell, a Conservative believes that the power of government should be held in abeyance - or "conserved" unless it is needed.)

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Terry McGinnis 2012/08/14 06:47:06 (edited)

None of the above

+1
Funny thing is, most people don't even know what this stuff means.

They hear something that appeals to them, pick "that side," and say they are "this."

"This" may not even remotely match with "that side"...it's called a sheep mill, and the whole world is falling into a slaughter pit instead of thinking for themselves.

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Transquesta 2012/08/14 06:42:21

None of the above

+4
The word/distinction 'liberal' means different things in different countries/cultures. Even in the states it can refer to old style leftists (more like anarchists), modern-day socialists (Obama, Inc.), social democrats (socialism with a prettier name), and classical liberals (libertarians).

Anyway, just like the word 'conservative,' 'liberal almost has no real meaning anymore. When I use the term, I use it in conjunction with statist--as in lib or conservative-flavored statist. This distinguishes between Marxian socialists (liberals) and Mussolinian socialists (conservatives), but both are statists. Statism is the practice or doctrine of giving a centralized government control over economic planning and policy. In general, statists believe the government/government regulation is the answer for everything.

Excellent question, though!

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poet4justice 2012/08/14 06:05:29

Undecided

because our founding hated politic

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☆astac☆ 2012/08/14 05:38:18

Undecided

Liberals are never in the middle of the spectrum, they are to the left, that includes all versions of socialism/fascism, communism, marxism. Here in the USA, that is the so called liberals and progressives, you know the guys that gave us Margret Sanger and her negro project, as well as European socialists/fascists/communists, who gave us the holocaust and the soviet purges

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TuringsChild 2012/08/14 05:21:21

What you call socialists we call liberals. It's simple.

+2
Actually it's anything BUT simple. And it's a very long story. It actually started in 1860, but we hit a major signpost in 1913. We no longer have a true Conservative Party in America. The GOP was taken over by Authoritarians, just as the DNC was corrupted by Communists and Socialists. The few Conservatives left seem to be gathering in the Libertarian Party, but it's more of a takeover of that minor Party just as the Dems and Reps were taken over.
What's the root cause? Lincoln destroyed the united States of America. Even at the time what he did was recognized as an act of tyranny. But the big change was when the Federal Reserve Bank was formed, allowing the rape of the American Worker and the distribution of Free Money which corrupted the very soul of America. And no, I don't know if any of it can be reversed at this point in history.

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Transqu... to Turings... 2012/08/14 06:44:25

+3
Don't forget the part where the SCOTUS gave public (government) corporations 'personhood' status thereby destroying capitalism in America. (See: Santa Clara V. Southern Pacific, c.1886)

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sjalan 2012/08/14 05:13:30

None of the above

+2
Point well taken. In most countries throughout the world you have uber extremists on both sides of the political spectrum and moderate conservatives and moderate liberals in the middle. In the last 30 years the moderates have been pushed out of politics by the radicalization of the Republican/Tea Party and dragged the "liberals" to the right with them. A liberal today was very much like the Republicans of the 1950's. The Republican/Tea Party of today is very close to if not actually the new political party of Fascist Theocracy in the act of consolidation.

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Daedalus to sjalan 2012/08/14 07:06:38 (edited)

+1
Don't forget neo-Liberalism and neo-Conservatism which some might say have little to do with the authentic Progressive Liberalism or authentic Conservatism. ;-)

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sjalan to Daedalus 2012/08/14 19:01:16

+1
Without a doubt. Then you have the totally out of wack extremeists like the Aryian Nation and White Power Separatiests and the KKK and many others. This is the short list.

http://splcenter.org/get-info...

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Dwight-AFCL>dogsbody 2012/08/14 05:08:02

Undecided

+1
I don't know how the deffinition of Liberal or Conservitive stacks up between our two countrys, much less the rest of the world. What we call a Liberal may be a marxist in Britain for all I know.

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BlackwinterG36C 2012/08/14 05:07:26

What you call socialists we call liberals. It's simple.

+2
There is centerists or moderates. Blue Dog Democrats which is center left. Liberals which is left or far left. Progressives which IS far left (progress on the road to socialism). And then there are socialists, communists etc.

As for the right. You have center right Rinos (republican in name only), Conservatives on the right. And far right is just called far right. But the Far right is so small and obscure its almost non-existant.

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Tee Quake 2012/08/14 05:00:01

All of the above

+1
and none of them.

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Zuggi 2012/08/14 01:43:03

We don't know what this left wing is. Can we eat it?

+3
The Democratic Socialist (or Labor in the UK) movement never made it into the big time in America, and our two party system is much less friendly to third parties than parliamentary systems.

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