German guy
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- Jun 9, 2010
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In America, it looks like political labels such as "conservative" and "liberal" are colloquially used almost synonymously to "supporter of one of the two large parties". In Europe, that's trickier, as in most countries, there are more than two political parties and different political traditions, so the labels vary.
I've sometimes seen Americans equating "conservative" with "in favor of small government" and "liberal" with "big government". Of course that's so simplistic it's not even true in American political reality (not even when you reduce your understanding of size of government to taxes and social spending). But even moreso, it's confusing, because small government historically, traditionally, is the most striking element of classically liberal philosophy (which today is often referred to as "libertarian" to avoid confusion with the colloquial use of the label "liberal" synonymous to "left").
Some went so far drawing the conclusion, based on this fallacious reasoning, that Nazism was a "leftist" or "socialist" ideology. But when you look at German conservatism, it becomes pretty obvious that Nazism was much more rooted in German right-wing and conservative thought, than in (Marxist) socialism (though Nazism did indeed incorporate a few elements from socialism).
But then, for different reasons, it looks like the line between true conservatism and classical liberalism/libertarianism is indeed blurred in America, perhaps for various reasons, not least that all these streams are united in the same, the Republican Party.
So what is conservative?
In this textbook -- Konservativismus (Elemente der Politik) eBook: Sven-Uwe Schmitz: Amazon.de: Bücher -- I found an interesting outline of conservative philosophy, contrasted to the major two other streams, liberalism and socialism:
- Conservatives view property as positive, but it isn't an end in itself, but responsibility is attached to it; in has to be used in unity with law tradition and ethics. Whileas non-conservatives either see property as an end in itself (liberals) or are skeptic of it (socialists).
- Basis for conservative views is the individual, but the individual is bound by superior obligations and duties, whileas liberals set the individual absolute and socialists emphasize the collective. Conservatives emphasize positive freedom ("freedom to do something") rather than negative freedom ("freedom from coercion or state") as liberals do.
- A given moral order has priority for conservatives, it can be religious, naturally grown or historically tested, whileas both liberals and socialists believe the way things are says nothing about how they are supposed to be, hence they feel justified changing it according to their views.
- Conservatives see the state as organically grown community, ordered by authority and oriented towards the common good. For liberals and socialists, the state is a means to an end, and its scope either encompassing (socialists) or minimal (liberals).
(to be continued...)
I've sometimes seen Americans equating "conservative" with "in favor of small government" and "liberal" with "big government". Of course that's so simplistic it's not even true in American political reality (not even when you reduce your understanding of size of government to taxes and social spending). But even moreso, it's confusing, because small government historically, traditionally, is the most striking element of classically liberal philosophy (which today is often referred to as "libertarian" to avoid confusion with the colloquial use of the label "liberal" synonymous to "left").
Some went so far drawing the conclusion, based on this fallacious reasoning, that Nazism was a "leftist" or "socialist" ideology. But when you look at German conservatism, it becomes pretty obvious that Nazism was much more rooted in German right-wing and conservative thought, than in (Marxist) socialism (though Nazism did indeed incorporate a few elements from socialism).
But then, for different reasons, it looks like the line between true conservatism and classical liberalism/libertarianism is indeed blurred in America, perhaps for various reasons, not least that all these streams are united in the same, the Republican Party.
So what is conservative?
In this textbook -- Konservativismus (Elemente der Politik) eBook: Sven-Uwe Schmitz: Amazon.de: Bücher -- I found an interesting outline of conservative philosophy, contrasted to the major two other streams, liberalism and socialism:
- Conservatives view property as positive, but it isn't an end in itself, but responsibility is attached to it; in has to be used in unity with law tradition and ethics. Whileas non-conservatives either see property as an end in itself (liberals) or are skeptic of it (socialists).
- Basis for conservative views is the individual, but the individual is bound by superior obligations and duties, whileas liberals set the individual absolute and socialists emphasize the collective. Conservatives emphasize positive freedom ("freedom to do something") rather than negative freedom ("freedom from coercion or state") as liberals do.
- A given moral order has priority for conservatives, it can be religious, naturally grown or historically tested, whileas both liberals and socialists believe the way things are says nothing about how they are supposed to be, hence they feel justified changing it according to their views.
- Conservatives see the state as organically grown community, ordered by authority and oriented towards the common good. For liberals and socialists, the state is a means to an end, and its scope either encompassing (socialists) or minimal (liberals).
(to be continued...)