Conservative? Liberal? Do these words mean anything anymore?

[Phoenix44]

People use the word "liberal" as if it's a curse-word, when all it really means is "broad-minded" or "generous." The Bush Administration has been referred to as "Conservative," or "neo-Conservative," when they are clearly radicals who do not represent traditional Conservative values of restraint and moderation.

So what does it mean to you? And why do we throw around these terms as if they mean anything?

 

[Kane]

I do agree that the word "Conservative" has little meaning today but you can't just blame The Bush Administration. "Liberal" has little meaning today as well.

When I see the word "conservative" I think of the word moral or I think of a moral society. The Bush Administration did try to ban something like gay marriages all over the US, but it did not necessarily go through. Again, you can't blame the Bush Administration, because they can only do so much.


When I hear the word liberal I think of good things that lead into less progressive things as well. The good thing I hear is equal rights for all including all races whether majority or minority. However, with Affirmative Action seems to bring the whole racial issue down to square 1 which is the bad. So in some sense even liberalism is running out of "meaning". I also usually think of liberals as people of the future but in fact many liberals are heading at the opposite path especially on economical issues.

So as a whole, I think the word "liberal" has a little more meaning in todays world but even that is starting loose some of its meaning.

 

[heretic888]

Technically, "liberalism" refers to various threads of philosophy and psychology that first emerged on a large scale between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Elements of those philosophical threads permeate both the "conservative" and "liberal" positions today. Conservatives, for example, seem to have greatly taken up the notion of "unilineal" material progress, whereas many of today's liberals still cling to a notion of tabula rasa.

In my opinion, the "neoconservative" camp is more of a reactionary group akin to the feudal Spanish Inquisition than anything else --- almost like a desire to return to feudalism.

But, that's just my take.