Speaking from an American viewpoint, my views on liberalism and conservatism are contradictory and subject to change.
Liberals are those who favor more government control and actively seek to make everyone equal, atleast that's the party lines.
Conservatives want as little government interference as possible and think people are born equal to start with; it's someone's own fault for not reaching his/her potential.
I cannot stand the thought of an America that runs like a Canada. Two weeks ago a friend of mine in Canada got her head busted open, blood spurting, almost dead. It took her nine hours to get medical attention. I'm not Canadian, but I often wonder how many times someone's life is forfeited due to the lack of competancy that the free enterprise system brings along from competition and working for a budget set by the company and not by the government.
On the flip side, how can one possible stand that people could be refused medications that they NEED to save their lives due to financial reasons? I can't.
Liberals(yes, blanket statements throughout the post) have an overwhelming tendency to value security over freedom. This seems to go against the American value, of everyone being completely free. But freedom isn't free, and some people just can't pay the bills.
The conservatives don't seem to care. I live in the richest county in my state, but it also has poverty comparable to the bronx in NYC. Why? Because we've got irresponsible wealth here.
If some of these rich bozos would get off their asses and help their fellow humans, using in country job markets instead of going out of country for cheaper labor costs, then there would be a lot more jobs.
So I look at how liberals get their goals and it doesn't work. And on the flip side, conservatism doesn't do a ton of people a damned bit of good either.
In the end, ya know what? It's all politics. Just politics. People run for election. They do whatever they can to stay in office for 4-8 years, and they get out. Half those promises don't even get mentioned once the new official is in office. He just keeps his head above water(most government ranking officials are male), making deals with this lobbyist and that lobbyist. They're all quite the same.
HOWEVER.
The conservative ->-bleeped-<-s here in America have no call, however moral of character they might believe themselves to be, to take away the freedoms of the people on civil liberties. Gay rights, trassexual rights, and abortion, are all things that don't have to be supported, but are not in any means, anyone's place to say, "no you can't do that." Banning public, nondemoninational prayer? Get real liberals, humanity is a spiritual species, guess what? WE PRAY. If you're in America and appreciating the protection of thousands of soldiers putting their lives down for you, you'd better put your hand over your heart for that American flag, either that or ship out.
Liberalism has always been the driving force in America, from generation to generation. It evolves into a new face of liberalism and we hold onto it tightly, and it seems funny because the liberalism of last generation seems to always be akin to the conservatism of this generation. But of course, how far is too far? I really wonder when it will get to a point when noone has any kind of self identity or freedoms.
It's all messed up, and I can't think of it, even after pondering it for most of my life, which is the lesser of the two evils. Lately I've been thinking more towards liberalism simply because of how irresponsible people are becoming, and that this nation will be a nation of poverty if someone doesn't force people to do something. But then what? What's next? Limit of one child per couple and assigning jobs?
Honestly, what this world needs is a startover. Someone needs to come blast the hell out of us and every other gigantic self-rightous nation that's crumbling from the inside. Because when this world starts to get too good, then there isn't enough bad for it to be good anymore, and you have to search really hard to find the difference between where something good isn't doing something bad.
