That's cheating, but you're right.
Of course, there's also the notion of liberals being reform or new idea oriented compared to conservatives being resistant to change.
Now just for fun, do you know where such ideas originated - i.e. what political philosopher is generally credited with first articulating such ideas in a form familiar (or should be, anyway) to most Americans? I'll give you a hint - he used the phrase "life, liberty and property" rather than the better known American version "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", but he pre-dated Jefferson by several decades.
BTW, this isn't a test. Just curious as to how deeply you've looked into the ideas of liberalism. You see, it is my opinion that many of George Bush's ideas and policies, specifically with regards to economic and foreign policy, but also extending into certain areas of domestic policy like education, health care and social security, are actually rather liberal - in the classic sense of the word. Democrats, OTOH, tend to resist change and reform in order to protect the status quo in many of these same areas. I'd be happy to get into this question on specific issues another time, if you'd like. |
