What is the true difference between a liberal and a conservative? Why do people buy into the entire idea that you must be one or the other? In the words of political pundit George Will, “A conservative is willing to accept freedom. Liberals tend to favor equality of outcome and are willing to sacrifice freedom to get it.” I agree with him, but I do not believe the people in power are either one – not in a true sense. I am personally much more conservative than I am liberal, but disagree with most of our political leaders.

Henry Adams said that politics is a system of categorizing our hatreds – so true, that’s exactly what it is. The origin of our political system was quite ingenious, and the two parties, republicans (conservative) and democrats (liberal) – widely speaking – are supposed to provide a balance so the society has structure and cohesion. What they failed to account for was the greed infested criminal element which is so prevalent in todays politics; thus, the political parties serve to drive people apart, giving them more reasons to hate each other. They also keep people at each other’s throats, while a corrupted government makes billions for themselves – a massive diversionary tactic with a life of it’s own.

What I cannot stand are people that play partisan politics – meaning a person will side with their party regardless of what they do. Think abut this: Many republicans will stand behind George W. Bush, no matter what mistakes he makes. One such person is the cackling Elisabeth Hasslebeck on the female driven morning TV show, The View. George Bush could stab a baby, and she would say he did the right thing; well, maybe my example is extreme hahaha. What if George W. Bush were a democrat and did all the same things, the only difference being a little “D” next to his name. The republicans would hate his guts just because he’s a democrat. What I’m saying is that people defend their party no matter what, which is a very ignorant thing to do.

Many people may believe I’m liberal because I fight for equality and am anti-war, but I am not. I am a libertarian conservative. I believe government should be small, protect our shores and deliver the mail. The idea that our federal government can equalize all people is a liberal fantasy of unrealistic idealism. We really are not born equal. We are born as a product of our environment. If we are born into a rich family, our lives will be much easier. If we are born to homeless crackheads, we will face a serious struggle. I am a political conservative with many liberal views. For instance, gay marriage isn’t an issue with me. I could care less if they get married, which is a liberal view. I am lost when it comes to federal health care. I guess the only way to find out if it will work is to give it a try. I must admit my political views are evolving into something I cannot really explain. I am simply fed up with our system. It is time to try something different. Maybe liberalism is the answer, maybe it’s not. We will find out soon enough.

Modern society has come a long way, and equality is important to ethical conservatives regardless of what people think. It’s also a myth that liberals are so anti-war they are willing to die just to be a fair person. The Federal government cannot fix the problems. Modern society has only been going a few hundred years, so perfection is an outlandish idea. My favorite politician is Ron Paul, and he says most issues of equality are being worked out through every individual’s involvement in politics and that most issues, like gay marriage and abortion should be left up to individual states. I agree with him 100%. The bigger the government is, the more problems we will have. In America, most people do not vote and really don’t care – a massive problem indeed.

If you don’t mind seeing gay guys holding hands on every street corner, move to California. If you want the right to shoot someone for walking through your yard, move to Texas. With a liberal Federal government, we will lose that ability (so I’m led to believe). I would like to point out that the current Bush administration is not a conservative government. Bush has increased the governments size and given conservatism a bad name.

So who will I vote for? I wish I could really get behind one of the two main candidates, but I cannot. I know many people who have Obama fever, but have you actually looked at his stance on every issue? I don’t believe there will be much difference between Obama or McCain, both are too liberal and are for huge government. I know that gas prices will not go down and that taxes on the middle class will only increase. Michelle Obama said that Americans don’t mind paying higher taxes as long as it’s for something good. I disagree with that 100%. I love the idea that both a black man and a woman have come to the forefront – it represents a big change in popular beliefs and opinions. That’s all fine and dandy, but how will you feel when you get major tax increases? The only thing I agree with Obama on is his position on the Iraq war. Other than that, I strongly oppose most of his policies. I could be wrong though, and am willing to change and learn something new. If something works, then I will support it. I am willing to accept anything that works regardless of party affiliation. Political evolution and adaptation is the wave of the future – at least I hope.

The reason people hate George W. Bush isn’t necessarily because of the Iraq war, it’s because it sucks being American with prices getting so high. Our economy is all screwed up because of a corrupted congress, big government and big oil. Want it to get even worse? Then elect Obama or McCain. Government will get even bigger, prices will skyrocket and taxes will become unbearable. Don’t believe me? Wait 4 years and see.

I know, the above statement is quite sarcastic and somewhat negative, but I’m trying to be realistic. If we lived in under a truly conservative government, operated by honest people of honorable character, things would be fine right now; however, they are not honest and are greed infested scum. The idea of conservatism, is truly the root America is built on. The problem is, most people cannot afford health care, and more and more young people will not have an opportunity to go to college unless their family is financially well off. This is where liberalism is supposed to provide balance, giving a voice to the poor and middle class. I agree 100% that we as a society have to lift up the poor, and give them every opportunity. Who will pay for all these programs? It will be the middle and lower middle class. It’s a complete conundrum. What if every rich person were of such high character, they never left their money to their children, but instead gave it all to a poor citizen college fund? Haha…dream on! A rich family will of course leave their money to their children which helps fortify a lopsided division of wealth. When you’re talking about a radical redistribution of wealth, you’re talking about communism.

When the liberals become too far left, and the conservatives get too far right, the outcome is fascism and communism; which is where we are right now and it’s only getting worse.

When the big corporations are heavily taxed, they just move to other countries and outsource their work, which only fuels the problem even more. The oil titan Haliburton, moved to Dubai for that very reason, just one example of how taxing the rich effects things. There is no one greedier than a billionaire who loses a few million – something I do not understand.

The degree of corruption is so deeply ingrained, I don’t really see an answer. I believe any change from Bush will be a good change. I certainly hope if Obama gets elected, he doesn’t get so caught up in “Washington”, that he forgets why he became president. It would be impossible for any of us to comprehend just how Washington changes people. Look at what happened to the Bush administration; they went in to change Washington, but Washington changed them.

If things continue like they have been here in America, we Americans will eventually be a third world country doing outsourced jobs for all the foreign corporations that actually used to be American corporations. The answer to all these problems is really up to individual citizens. When I hear someone say, “I don’t vote…I hate politics and don’t pay attention to it,” I can only surmise that’s it’s this person’s fault we are in the shape we’re in now. Every problem we have is caused by individual citizens who just apathetically ignore the political system. It is your duty to get involved. It is also your duty to see through the lies and corruption and not play partisan politics. No one is above being called down on the average citizen’s floor – where the true power of our democracy is supposed to be. In my heart, I so yearn to get behind a great leader. Whoever gets elected, please don’t let us down.

Tags: conservative, liberalism, libertarian, liberties, politics