Who's the bigger offender: Conservatives or Liberals?

Edited by Minnemooseus, : Added by edit.

quote:

---

Liberal - Derived from Middle English term liberalis, meaning befitting free men. Also the Latin term liber meaning freedom .

​

Adjective = broad-minded, favorable to progress or reform.
Noun = a person with broad-minded, progressive views, especially in politics or religion.

​

While liberal thought has a long history, modern liberal thought began with the Enlightenment by rejecting many earlier theories of government - The Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, established religion. Early liberal movements opposed absolute monarchy and various kinds of religious orthodoxy while endorsing new concepts of individual rights under the rule of law - classical liberalism.

​

Classical liberalism – emphasizes the belief that laissez faire capitalism based on little to no governmental interference in the economy will promote individual liberty. First articulated by John Locke (1632-1704) who described two fundamental ideas behind the idea of individual liberty:
economic liberty – the right to own and use property; and
intellectual liberty – the right to intellectual freedom of thought and conscience.
Social liberalism - emphasizes the belief that because unregulated laissez faire capitalism and the profit motive can cause inequality of wealth, a stronger central government is necessary to protect individual liberty from the perceived excesses of capitalism.
John Maynard Keynes was one of the strongest proponents of social liberals.
By the end of the 19th century, some liberals asserted that in order to be free, individuals needed access to food, shelter, and education and they also needed governmental protection against exploitation.
Then, during the Great Depression, the public's faith in laissez faire capitalism declined and many began to believe that unregulated markets could neither produce prosperity nor prevent poverty -

​

Conservative - Derived from Middle English term conserven, meaning to save, guard, preserve.

​

Adjective = marked by moderation or caution.
Noun = a person with moderate or cautious views, especially in politics or religion.

​

Classical conservatism - emphasizes the belief that the proper purpose of government is to allow men to follow their chosen pursuits with maximum freedom. As Thomas Jefferson said in his first Inaugural Address, "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government."
Russell Kirk in "The Essence of Conservation" wrote in 1957:

​

"A conservative is not, by definition, a selfish or a stupid person; instead, he is a person who believes there is something in our life worth saving. Conservatism, indeed, is a word with an old and honorable meaning - but a meaning almost forgotten by Americans until recent years ... Conservatism, then, is not simply the concern of the people who have much property and influence; it is not simply the defense of privilege and status. Most conservatives are neither rich nor powerful. But they do, even the most humble of them, derive great benefits from our established Republic ... Conservatism is not simply a defense of capitalism... But the true conservative does stoutly defend private property and a free economy, both for their own sake and because these are means to great ends. Those great ends ... involve human dignity, human personality, human happiness. They involve even the relationship between God and man."

---