Liberal vs Conservative Views - Which Side are You On?

Does it really matter whether you are a liberal or a conservative? Currently the US (I can't speak much about other countries) is very polarized, and liberalism vs. conservatism is one of the major causes if not THE cause. I sense a lot of anger and hatred from both sides toward each other even to the point where I sometimes feel we're on the brink of another civil war.

Well, I hope it will never come to that, but the situation is quite serious nonetheless. While it's healthy to have different points of views, it really does not serve us to fight amongst ourselves.

Following is an excerpt from a comment made by one of the readers which I totally agree with:

"I think the division in politics is destroying our country from the inside, how can we unite our country against outside forces when we stand divided among ourselves?"

When I first wrote this page I didn't think much about that. In fact, I was just writing it for fun, and the division wasn't quite as bad back then. The number of visitors to this page has increased over the years, which is good, but I also realized that I need to be careful that I don't contribute to the problem. I would like my readers to have a healthy exchange of ideas rather than arguments that tear down each other. Therefore, please keep that in mind when you post your comments on this page. I also welcome your suggestions on how to improve this page. If you have any, please post it in the comment section at the bottom.

Take a fun quiz below to see how liberal or conservative you are

I took one of those online tests and here's the results:

Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 60% Conservative, 40% Liberal

Overall: 40% Conservative, 60% Liberal

You can take the same test by clicking here.

Being a liberal is promoting maximum individual freedom as well as being open minded and tolerant. A liberal is not afraid to explore and implement new and different ideas even those that may seem strange and unacceptable to the majority.

Please note that the above are the characteristics of true or classic liberalism. Unfortunately, these have been distorted by those who claim to be liberals but have other agendas (some refer to them as progressives, which is probably more appropriate), thus creating a new concept of liberalism which encompasses certain ideas like the love of big government, big spending, etc. (also read about "liberalism vs. progressivism" below).

A conservative is disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change (taken from dictionary.com which I believe is a pretty good definition).

One of the readers pointed out that I was actually a libertarian instead of a liberal especially in the political sense. Well, they're right but when I created this page politics wasn't at the top of my list. I was thinking more of everyday life situations. I have since modified the content of this page to reflect what I truly believe, and I will probably continue to do so as new ideas and knowledge are brought to light.

I was a conservative turned liberal or should I say... libertarian?

I was raised a conservative and held conservative views for quite a while. However, I also have a rebellious side that always wants to break away from restrictive rules and societal norms, and seek freedom. Over time that side of me won and I now have more liberal views mostly on social issues.

As a conservative I was very uptight about things and sometimes got upset when I saw people behave in ways that were not acceptable to society. Now I'm very open minded, relaxed, tolerant, patient, and fun loving.

I'm all about enjoying life. I tend to disregard societal taboos and rules which serve no purpose other than to impose the views and beliefs of the majority. So I'm a social liberal and live a carefree lifestyle that would fit into the term Bohemian although I'm not much of an artist. I believe you should be able to do anything you like as long as you don't hurt others or yourself. However, as you should realize, that takes a lot of personal responsibility.

Just to give a couple of examples; to me it's cool to dress like a hippie, go barefoot, wear a nose ring, etc. but what about doing drugs or having multiple sexual partners? Before engaging in any of those, you should ask the question: will your behavior harm yourself or other people? And you should think long term too.

Note: all the above are MY views based on MY experiences. Yours may be different and that's fine. No one can always agree on everything and that's cool!

Again, this is not all about politics, so when I use the terms liberal and conservative I'm not necessarily referring to the political parties (i.e. Democratic and Republican). Having said that, some of the contents are political. Hey, it's good to have diversity, right? :)

As you well know, President Obama has signed the new Health Care Reform Bill into law. Some people think it's great while others think it's terrible. What about you? This is an anonymous poll.

This is another polarizing issue in our country today. Where do you stand?

As I stated earlier, the notion of "liberalism" has been distorted from the original which espouses total freedom and enjoyment of life into something that's quite the opposite. Today some conservatives even say liberals are stupid, hate their country, and even "liberalism is a mental disorder."

Here are a few examples they often use to support their argument:

Liberals want to keep the borders open and allow illegal immigrants to come in and deplete our resources while letting drug dealers, criminals, and potential terrorists enter freely.

They refuse to drill for more oil within the US on a pretense of protecting the environment, and let us continue to depend on foreign oil while at the same time gas prices keep rising, driving up prices of other goods.

This one is a biggie: liberals want more government control on our lives which is just the opposite of promoting individual freedom.

So the question is, are these people really stupid and crazy (the blind followers may be) or do they actually have a bigger agenda?

Whatever it may be, the above are not consistent with true liberal beliefs. At least not in my book. Again, a more appropriate term for today's so-called liberals is progressives. More and more politicians are now using that term.

Learn more about progessivism and modern liberalism.

Are you a liberal or a conservative? Please tell us why or in what ways.

If you don't think you fit into either category (perhaps you're neutral, a moderate, an independent or a libertarian like I am) and still want to comment please scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your comment there. Or hey, maybe you're a progressive? You're welcome to comment too :)

Important, please read before commenting:

All comments have to be approved before being posted (so, they won't show right away). Comments (from either liberals or conservatives) containing foul or abusive language, inflammatory, promoting hate or violence, and those that do not add value (stuff like "ditto", "me too", "I agree/disagree", "I hate so and so", etc.) WILL NOT BE POSTED! Remember, we can disagree without being nasty to each other.

One more thing and then I'll let you post, I promise :)... your post must be original. "Copy and paste" from another site or source is not acceptable.

OK, post your comments below.

This section is probably political :)

Some of you may wonder why I added this section. Well, to be honest, I was scared of the things he brought up (and continues to do) on his shows, and I wanted to get others' opinions. It seems I have gathered enough opinions (see below) and I may decide to delete this section in the future, but I'll let it stay for now as it has drawn quite a bit of interest.

Anyway, Glenn Beck is a conservative (he claims to be a libertarian) radio and TV talk show host. I didn't used to listen to him much but a while back someone told me to watch his special series of TV shows (while he was still at Fox). As I said, he brought up some pretty scary stuff. The big question is, is Glenn Beck completely nuts and we should just ignore him, or is there some truth to what he says?

My take: after watching him for a while I personally believe he is someone who truly loves his country and is doing everything he can to "save" it. However, he tends to exaggerate and have a rather pessimistic view of the future which could give the impression that he is a fear monger. On occasion, he also twists things around a little. So, like he himself says, always do your own homework and don't believe everything everybody says, including him.

As you know, he is no longer with Fox and has created his own network called The Blaze. It will be interesting to see how that works out.

Now share your thoughts but please be civil. Again, any comments from either side containing foul or abusive language, promoting hate/violence or inflammatory in any way will not be posted! All comments need to be approved, so there will be a slight delay.

After watching his shows...

Books defending conservatism or written by authors considered to have conservative views.

Books defending liberalism or written by authors considered to have liberal views.

and they should if they all love their country

All the arguments about liberals vs conservatives can and have actually divided the country, which is not a good thing. It is important to realize that the differences between a liberal and a conservative are their philosophy, their ideology, and the way they look at things and solve problems. In fact, it is healthy to have those differences in order to establish a balance which in the end will create stability as long as all involved love their country and are guided by the principles of the founding fathers.

Therefore, liberals and conservatives should work together for the good of the country and the entire planet for that matter. After all, human beings (regardless of their race, backgrounds, beliefs, or where they live) want the same things in life, namely: love, peace, and joy. It would be to our benefit to put our differences aside and work together toward a bright future for all humankind. It may be hard but not impossible.

Have you had enough of all the negativity spouted by the media, talk show hosts, and other doom-and-gloomers? This refreshing video might just be an antidote. Enjoy it and have a wonderful day!

Maybe you're neither a liberal nor a conservative but still want to voice your opinion? Or perhaps you don't want to take part in the debate but just want to tell me how much you like this page? Be my guest, and post your comments below :) Remember to keep it nice and clean, and absolutely no spam!