Summing up Conservatives Liberals & Libertarians

[Laconia79]

Found this article I though it summed politics in a nutshell (anyone have opinions)

Conservatives vs Liberals vs Libertarians

What I’m going to say here is far from original, but I believe it is worth reminding from time to time. Yes, there is a lot of over-simplification here, but bear with me! This is the difference between conservatives, liberals, and libertarians (or at least this libertarian who writes):

Gun control:

• Liberal: Guns are dangerous! People should not have guns!
• Conservative: From my cold dead hands!
• Libertarians: I personally don’t like guns and I wouldn’t like to have one. But I believe that people who so desire should have the right to own guns.

Drugs:

• Liberal: Marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and should be legalized!
• Conservative: Marijuana is a gateway into heavier drugs and should be prohibited!
• Libertarian: Although I personally never did drugs and have no desire to do so, nor have deep knowledge of how particular drugs are heavier than legalized substances or not, I believe that people who want to do drugs should not be prohibited from doing so.

Foreign Policy:

• Liberal: We have to send more foreign aid. It is our moral responsibility! And who are we to judge which nations are democratic or not?
• Conservative: The world is a dangerous place and it is our responsibility to police it!
• Libertarian: Although I can see that the World is a dangerous place and I feel personally obligated to do something to help those in need, I don’t believe it is the role of the government to interfere in other nations.

Labor laws:

• Liberal: We have to protect the poor!
• Conservative: Capitalism is God’s way of deciding who is poor and who is smart!
• Libertarian: I feel for the poor, and I believe we should do something to help. I believe that some governmental policies predictably hurt the poor and therefore should be changed. However, I believe that helping the poor should be mainly done by individuals and independent organizations, not by the government.

Crime in general:

• Liberal: He is a victim of society!
• Conservative: The chair!!!
• Libertarian: External circumstances can explain and even attenuate certain crimes, but never justify it. On the other hand, if we are cruel towards criminals, we are becoming just like them. Also, throwing people in jail is very clearly an awful and simplistic way of dealing with crime and should think of other ways of punishment, always having reconciliation as an ideal.

Economics:

• Liberal: We need more government oversight!
• Conservative: The market will solve everything!
• Libertarian:

Immigration:

• Liberal: Open the border!
• Conservative: Build a wall!
• Libertarian: Completely opening the borders is abandoning any notion of nation-state. Nevertheless, we should be welcoming, though thoughtful, about immigration.

Education:

• Liberal: Your kids are mine!
• Conservative: We need to bring prayer back to public schools!
• Libertarian: Education is fundamentally religious and reflects the values we aim to have. Maybe the state can have a very limited role in it, but the main responsibility belongs to the parents, who likely will instill their values on the children.

Politics in general:

• Liberal: My party will solve everything!
• Conservative: My party will solve everything!
• Libertarian: There are no perfect solutions, especially not through politics. Do you want to change the World? Start by cleaning your room.

 

[Hazelelponi]

NVM

 

[Halbhh]

This one made me laugh:

"

• Liberal: We need more government oversight!
• Conservative: The market will solve everything!
• Libertarian:

'Three guys are sitting at the bar...., and they've had a few!'

 

[Laconia79]

NVM

I am a throwing my hands in the air at all the political parties lol

 

[Gene2memE]

And Libertarians wonder why nobody likes them....

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Sounds like libertarians are pretty wishy washy.

 

[stevil]

This is very much a USA brand of Liberal vs Conservative.
Guns and god shouldn't have an influence of Liberal or Conservative.

 

[Danthemailman]

Very interesting speech by Malcolm X on white “liberals.”

 

[Sketcher]

This . . . isn't very good.

• Conservative: From my cold dead hands!
• Libertarians: I personally don’t like guns and I wouldn’t like to have one. But I believe that people who so desire should have the right to own guns.

The conservative and libertarian positions on small arms are one and the same.

• Liberal: Marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and should be legalized!
• Libertarian: Although I personally never did drugs and have no desire to do so, nor have deep knowledge of how particular drugs are heavier than legalized substances or not, I believe that people who want to do drugs should not be prohibited from doing so.

Libertarians will say the same about marijuana, though they won't limit legalization to marijuana.

• Liberal: We have to protect the poor!
• Conservative: Capitalism is God’s way of deciding who is poor and who is smart!
• Libertarian: I feel for the poor, and I believe we should do something to help. I believe that some governmental policies predictably hurt the poor and therefore should be changed. However, I believe that helping the poor should be mainly done by individuals and independent organizations, not by the government.

The conservative and libertarian positions are one and the same.

Economics:

• Liberal: We need more government oversight!
• Conservative: The market will solve everything!
• Libertarian:

Seriously? Libertarians talk about economics at length. They also tend to have at least as much faith in the market as conservatives.

Immigration:

• Liberal: Open the border!
• Conservative: Build a wall!
• Libertarian: Completely opening the borders is abandoning any notion of nation-state. Nevertheless, we should be welcoming, though thoughtful, about immigration.

The libertarian position is closer to open borders than the liberal position.

Education:

• Liberal: Your kids are mine!
• Conservative: We need to bring prayer back to public schools!
• Libertarian: Education is fundamentally religious and reflects the values we aim to have. Maybe the state can have a very limited role in it, but the main responsibility belongs to the parents, who likely will instill their values on the children.

The libertarian position on education is to privatize as much as possible. Whether it's through vouchers or the complete abandonment of public education and any funding of it aside from tuition and fees paid for by parents.

Politics in general:

• Liberal: My party will solve everything!
• Conservative: My party will solve everything!
• Libertarian: There are no perfect solutions, especially not through politics. Do you want to change the World? Start by cleaning your room.

Libertarians tend to believe that their brand of libertarianism will solve everything that can be solved. Whichever brand of libertarianism it happens to be.

 

[Desk trauma]

Unflattering simplistic depictions mixed with straw men of others positions while painting libertarians as the only three dimensional considered position at the table.

D-

 

[Percivale]

Inaccurate. Libertarians tend to be farther left than the left on some issues and further right than the right in others. The only exception I can think of is culture war issues, where each major party takes a side and libertarians keep the government out of it. On other issues it's like
Democrats: legalize marijuana
Republicans: keep drugs illegal
Libertarians: legalize all drugs

Democrats: increase welfare
Republicans: reduce some welfare
Libertarians: abolish all welfare

If you want a moderate, thoughtful party, look at the Forward party or the American Solidarity Party, not the libertarian party.

 

[cow451]

Liberals: Share the wealth.
Conservatives: Trust the rich.
Libertarians: I got mine.

 

[FireDragon76]

"Libertarian" in the American context is simply glorified anarcho-capitalism.

 

[perplexed]

Trump lovers and the loony left are basically the same
They are absolutely sure there is a simple way to stop the baddies doing the bad stuff and anyone who disagrees needs to be canceled

 

[childeye 2]

Found this article I though it summed politics in a nutshell (anyone have opinions)

Conservatives vs Liberals vs Libertarians

What I’m going to say here is far from original, but I believe it is worth reminding from time to time. Yes, there is a lot of over-simplification here, but bear with me! This is the difference between conservatives, liberals, and libertarians (or at least this libertarian who writes):

Gun control:

• Liberal: Guns are dangerous! People should not have guns!
• Conservative: From my cold dead hands!
• Libertarians: I personally don’t like guns and I wouldn’t like to have one. But I believe that people who so desire should have the right to own guns.

Drugs:

• Liberal: Marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and should be legalized!
• Conservative: Marijuana is a gateway into heavier drugs and should be prohibited!
• Libertarian: Although I personally never did drugs and have no desire to do so, nor have deep knowledge of how particular drugs are heavier than legalized substances or not, I believe that people who want to do drugs should not be prohibited from doing so.

Foreign Policy:

• Liberal: We have to send more foreign aid. It is our moral responsibility! And who are we to judge which nations are democratic or not?
• Conservative: The world is a dangerous place and it is our responsibility to police it!
• Libertarian: Although I can see that the World is a dangerous place and I feel personally obligated to do something to help those in need, I don’t believe it is the role of the government to interfere in other nations.

Labor laws:

• Liberal: We have to protect the poor!
• Conservative: Capitalism is God’s way of deciding who is poor and who is smart!
• Libertarian: I feel for the poor, and I believe we should do something to help. I believe that some governmental policies predictably hurt the poor and therefore should be changed. However, I believe that helping the poor should be mainly done by individuals and independent organizations, not by the government.

Crime in general:

• Liberal: He is a victim of society!
• Conservative: The chair!!!
• Libertarian: External circumstances can explain and even attenuate certain crimes, but never justify it. On the other hand, if we are cruel towards criminals, we are becoming just like them. Also, throwing people in jail is very clearly an awful and simplistic way of dealing with crime and should think of other ways of punishment, always having reconciliation as an ideal.

Economics:

• Liberal: We need more government oversight!
• Conservative: The market will solve everything!
• Libertarian:

Immigration:

• Liberal: Open the border!
• Conservative: Build a wall!
• Libertarian: Completely opening the borders is abandoning any notion of nation-state. Nevertheless, we should be welcoming, though thoughtful, about immigration.

Education:

• Liberal: Your kids are mine!
• Conservative: We need to bring prayer back to public schools!
• Libertarian: Education is fundamentally religious and reflects the values we aim to have. Maybe the state can have a very limited role in it, but the main responsibility belongs to the parents, who likely will instill their values on the children.

Politics in general:

• Liberal: My party will solve everything!
• Conservative: My party will solve everything!
• Libertarian: There are no perfect solutions, especially not through politics. Do you want to change the World? Start by cleaning your room.

For what it's worth, I don't think that's an accurate description. Politics means the delegation of power to set policy. This is the fundamental dichotomy of politics, Democracy/Autocracy. Neither can be fully realized in their absolutes which is why we have a democratic republic. Liberal and conservative represent a difference of opinion in how centralized or decentralized power should be, so as to establish an effective government to serve a country's people.

The examples given are typical mischaracterizations of policy differences through absolutism. Good politics is about finding the common middle. Bad politics is about creating division.

 

[FireDragon76]

Libertarians are just another variety of conservative, one that is often less tied to religious institutions and moralism, but still conservative.

 

[Tom 1]

Very interesting speech by Malcolm X on white “liberals.”

Those ideas are a bit dated.