"Of all the varieties of virtues, liberalism is the most beloved," said Aristotle. Liberalism is the most beloved because it is the only political mindset that is in place to support the good of all people in a society. I am a liberal and very proud of it. The conservative in this country in the last few years have tried to make "liberal" a bad word, when it is definitely not. It is a word that should be glorified. Without the liberals, this country would most likely, not exist.
The very founding fathers of this country were liberals. They were seeking change; they were seeking a way of life not controlled by the British. These liberal men revolted and revolutionized our great country. The conservatives at this time were known as loyalists, those who wanted to remain loyal to the British, those who wished to remain in oppression of the British. Liberals now, just as liberals then, seek to change the world around us to make it better for all of those in it, while the conservative wish to help just an aristocratic few.
I have read platforms from democrats, who are mostly liberal, and republicans, who are mostly conservative, and I whole-heartedly side with democrats. Their ideas for this country seem to want to help the general population more than the republican platform that wishes to help mainly the upper class.
They wish to give tax cuts to the rich, in hopes that this will help the middle-class, this, known as trickle-down economics, originally used by Reagan in the 1980's, put the US in its first budget deficit ever, and set in forth a couple of years ago by Bush again, put the US in another deficit that the liberal democrats helped get this country out of. Now these are more political points, rather than actual liberal vs. conservative ideas, they are relative, due to party distinction between liberal and conservatives, to democrats and republicans.
In Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, a liberal is defined as one who is liberal, one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional or established forms or ways. A conservative is defined as one who is an adherent or advocate of political conservatism, one who adheres to traditional methods or views.
The conservatives wish to remain and live in a stead society for all time, where as the liberals realize that society is constantly moving, like a river, take turns, slowing up, slowing down, but never stopping. Liberals want to make the US progress over time with new ideas and new governmental programs, but the conservatives wish to keep everything the same, wish to use out-dated programs and out-dated ideas to control a new and growing society.
In Robert Browning's poem, Why I am a Liberal, he sums up the reason in the final line, he supports liberals to support "A brother's right to freedom. That is "Why"." Liberals are the freedom-fighters of a society, always taking sides with minorities or the common man rather than the side of the person with the most power or money. Liberals are the founders of democracy and freedoms in this world. Liberals are those with enough guts to demand change, no matter what the people say or do to them.
The liberals want to make the general public have more control over what they do, where as the conservatives want to make the government control what people can and can not do. The conservatives wish to control people's lives and choices. They wish to control abortion rights, which rights, while must somewhat be controlled by the government, should still mostly be left up to the mother. They wish to have loose gun control laws, restricting the rest of society, making the rest of society live in fear of being shot by any random person, with any random gun. Conservatives seem to bend with whatever the men of power and money want to support, where-as the liberals seem to always honor the right and moral thing to do.
Winston Churchill once said," If you are a conservative at 20, you have no heart. If you are a liberal at 40, you have no brain." Maybe in due time, my philosophy will change, but as of this moment, my youthful ideals leave me no choice but to remain liberal, trying to hold my ideals close to me, hoping that what I believe in and what I say really matters, and that one liberal voice and idea can change the world and how a society works.
