The difference between liberals and conservatives

[AProudLefty]

The difference between Liberals (aka Leftists) and Conservatives is that Liberals think only the collective--society as a whole--matters while Conservatives venerate the individual. Stalin summed this up nicely (his being a Leftist), "A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic." That is to say Conservatives consider each and every death tragic, while Liberals see only the sum of a large number of people dying as an accounting error.

Boy that was a good one! Quite a whopper!

[T. A. Gardner]

I love how you rewrite history.

Are you for Monarchy or are you for individuals?

Individuals. But that wasn't what happened in the French revolution. The Monarchy was replaced first by a totalitarian state and then an Emperor (Napolean) emerged...

[AProudLefty]

Individuals. But that wasn't what happened in the French revolution. The Monarchy was replaced first by a totalitarian state and then an Emperor (Napolean) emerged...

Conservatism is about social hierarchy and status quo.

Liberalism is about individual liberty and progress.

Almost everyone can agree that either too fast or too slow of a progress can be a bad thing. It really depends.

You lump the entire Left as some of a monolithic entity where everyone thinks the same.

[BidenPresident]

The difference between Liberals (aka Leftists) and Conservatives is that Liberals think only the collective--society as a whole--matters while Conservatives venerate the individual. Stalin summed this up nicely (his being a Leftist), "A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic." That is to say Conservatives consider each and every death tragic, while Liberals see only the sum of a large number of people dying as an accounting error.

duhhhh Stalin duhhhhhh

[BidenPresident]

Wrong. In the French revolution, those on the Left were the mob and ruled "democratically." Those on the Right were anyone that objected to the mob and that resulted in them being voted off the island by guillotine.

Yet you support Trump's mob who attacked the Capitol.

[Poor Richard Saunders]

The difference between Liberals (aka Leftists) and Conservatives is that Liberals think only the collective--society as a whole--matters while Conservatives venerate the individual. Stalin summed this up nicely (his being a Leftist), "A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic." That is to say Conservatives consider each and every death tragic,

Every death is so tragic that thoughts and prayers are the only valid response?

while Liberals see only the sum of a large number of people dying as an accounting error.

They see a large number of people dying as a reason to try to prevent it in the future.

[Nordberg]

Individuals. But that wasn't what happened in the French revolution. The Monarchy was replaced first by a totalitarian state and then an Emperor (Napolean) emerged...

Which comports with Trump wanting total control here. The rightys are on board. He is a Musolliniat his base. He wants total control.

[T. A. Gardner]

Conservatism is about social hierarchy and status quo.

Liberalism is about individual liberty and progress.

Almost everyone can agree that either too fast or too slow of a progress can be a bad thing. It really depends.

You lump the entire Left as some of a monolithic entity where everyone thinks the same.

You have that backwards and the proof is by historical example.

[AProudLefty]

You have that backwards and the proof is by historical example.

Nope.

Basic definition of conservatism:

con·ser·va·tism

noun

1.
commitment to traditional values and ideas with opposition to change or innovation.


lib·er·al·ism
noun
noun: liberalism

1.
willingness to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; openness to new ideas.
the holding of political views that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
"the borough prides itself on being a great bastion of liberalism and diversity"
Theology
the belief that many traditional beliefs are dispensable, invalidated by modern thought, or liable to change.
2.
a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.


You can scream till you're blue in the face and it still won't change. Sorry dude. You oppose any kind of change and liberty.

[T. A. Gardner]

Nope.

Basic definition of conservatism:

con·ser·va·tism

noun

1.
commitment to traditional values and ideas with opposition to change or innovation.


lib·er·al·ism
noun
noun: liberalism

1.
willingness to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; openness to new ideas.
the holding of political views that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
"the borough prides itself on being a great bastion of liberalism and diversity"
Theology
the belief that many traditional beliefs are dispensable, invalidated by modern thought, or liable to change.
2.
a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.


You can scream till you're blue in the face and it still won't change. Sorry dude. You oppose any kind of change and liberty.

Just because those are the definitions, it doesn't mean that plays out in reality.

The "liberals" (aka Left) want to grab guns, restrict speech, impose government only positions in education, retirement, healthcare, etc. So, in a sense, yes, liberals want to toss out traditional freedoms and values and replace them with totalitarian, socialist ones.

Conservatives on the other hand want to continue to have individual freedoms, limited government, and individual rights.

[anonymoose]

While liberals tend to be
more concerned with protecting vulnerable groups

What groups are vulnerable? And vulnerable to what?

[AProudLefty]

Just because those are the definitions, it doesn't mean that plays out in reality.

Okay then Republicans are not conservatives.

The "liberals" (aka Left) want to grab guns, restrict speech, impose government only positions in education, retirement, healthcare, etc. So, in a sense, yes, liberals want to toss out traditional freedoms and values and replace them with totalitarian, socialist ones.

Then they are not liberals.

Conservatives on the other hand want to continue to have individual freedoms, limited government, and individual rights.

Conserving the status quo and hierarchy is not for individual liberties.

Using your erroneous definition, the GOP is not conservative.

[Nordberg]

The difference between Liberals (aka Leftists) and Conservatives is that Liberals think only the collective--society as a whole--matters while Conservatives venerate the individual. Stalin summed this up nicely (his being a Leftist), "A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic." That is to say Conservatives consider each and every death tragic, while Liberals see only the sum of a large number of people dying as an accounting error.

That is so wrong. Conservatives are good little soldiers who follow orders. That is why Trump rules their thoughts and actions. You follow orders so well. Conservatives do not care about school shootings. They care about guns. Thoughts and prayers, not legislation.

[Frank Apisa]

While liberals tend to be more concerned with protecting vulnerable groups from harm and more concerned with equality and social justice than conservatives, conservatives tend to be more concerned with moral issues like group loyalty, respect for authority, purity and religious sanctity than liberals are.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/o...ose-state.html

I see that the article politely avoided the issue of insanity and stupidity running rampant in American MAGA conservatism, BP, while those qualities (although not totally absent from the American left) are far from being the dominant trait they are on the right.

Okay.

Far be it for me to mention it.

[NiftyNiblick]

While liberals tend to be more concerned with protecting vulnerable groups from harm and more concerned with equality and social justice than conservatives, conservatives tend to be more concerned with moral issues like group loyalty, respect for authority, purity and religious sanctity than liberals are.

The article is behind a pay wall, so I haven't read it.

As for the quote above, however, I feel that it's unrealistically optimistic about the motives of both sides.
These fiercely idealistic people must live in hidden enclaves.
I haven't met them.