Good definition of liberals v. conservatives

01 05 12 - 08:57

Contemporary American-style conservatism and liberalism are merely two faces of that intelligible beast, (Eighteenth Century) Classical Liberalism. Its vision says the substantive unit or entity in politics is strictly the individual, and the freedom of the individual is the primary good after which society and government seek. Since, therefore, the term “society” indicates nothing more than a numerical aggregate of the individuals in a given area, then the only purpose of government must be to defend the potentially infinite number of “private” interests of these loosely gathered individual freedom-maximizers.

American-style liberals and conservatives simply emphasize two distinct elements intrinsic to this vision: one insists that the “right” to unlimited wealth accumulation follows naturally from the freedom of the individual and that this right is only expressible if certain other freedoms are limited so that the literal place of the market can be stable and reliable (and therefore a relatively predictable place in which wealth — the value of a dollar — can be relied upon); the other insists that the individual’s freedom consists primarily in self-fashioning and that the self can only enjoy this free play — its individuality — if it can know that society is stable, ”equal,” and reliable enough that the products of the individual’s free play (the self made by the pure, autonomous will of the individual) will not have any material consequences. - Letter from a Traditional Conservative

seven comments

for nihilists, you sure do care about labels and categories. at least its an ethos - 01-05-’12 23:53

This is more the difference between liberals and right-libertarians. Mainstream American conservatives do have collectivist ideas mixed in with individualistic ones. They just don't go as far with them as so-called traditionalists do. Delete me. - 02-05-’12 16:34

The definition is not even close. The policies advocated by conservatives are just racist unfairness: limiting immigration, even in multiracial societies, law enforcement profiling possible suspects, permitting, or at least not punishing employment qualifications on "private" "property" grounds. The intolerant right wing must be stamped out wherever it rears its ugly head! Who always votes conservative? I'm not racist but it is pretty much just whites. That means unfortunately whites need to be targeted for limiting their immigration, wherever there are multicultural societies, law enforcement not profiling but responding only after a suspect acts yes even in your sickeningly white neighborhoods especially, and modifying the definition of "private" and "property" when a member of the public does business therein or if the government has some regulatory authority within the operation. Dave (URL) - 02-05-’12 20:36

Well you're right on Dave, now if you don't mind please do come sit on my white erected veiny cock; we both know you will intensely enjoy it!

Come now... it's calling your name @ Dave - 03-05-’12 15:46

>Go to school
>Kid trips me up on way to class
>Teacher calls me dumb
>Eat lunch in the bathroom
>Go home early because of my nose bleeds
>Dad is already drunk and beats my ass
>Jerk off to Japanese Cartoons
>Go to bed, dad touches my thighs whilst he thinks I’m asleep tortured little kid will be a death metaller someday - 03-05-’12 17:15

Classy... NocturnalTerror - 07-05-’12 05:03

Gobble gobble slurp slurp. Good definition of ass Vs. mouth - 11-05-’12 12:37