An Accurate Summary
I came across an interesting site on the internet that sums up the divide in this country between the Right and the Left. It adds perspective to the debate on the direction and belief of both sides of the debate. For me, reading this struck a note of "exactly" as it will for conservatives and progressives alike. The source of this is studentnewsdaily.com. They describe their organization as follows:
"StudentNewsDaily.com is a non-profit current events website for high school students. Our goal is to build students' knowledge of current events and strengthen their critical thinking skills. This is done by providing comprehension and critical thinking questions along with posted news articles and other current events items. We provide resources that will enable students to become informed viewers and readers of the news."
This organization deserves KUDOS for their factual, non-partisan and honest evaluation, allowing high school students to decide for themselves absent of the kind of agenda and spin provided by the mainstream media.
Today, few of us analyze any politician or political issue using this basic information. Politicians and spin meisters engineer policy positions and information to maintain their political power absent of basic analysis and principles on which they stand.
It is refreshing and ironic that as adults, we may be able to bring our thought process back to basics and learn a bit from this information provided by high school students for high school students. As their critical thinking and decision making skills are challenged, maybe, just maybe, some partisans on both sides of the debate will use this information as a refresher course in reality.
Far too often, politics clouds the facts as the news media preys on emotions to create firestorms that divide us as a population in an attempt to be the influencing factor in elections and for ratings and sales. Seldom is the debate between parties and partisans broken down as in the analysis below. Great job studentnewsdaily.com on both your neutrality and analysis.
So below are core beliefs and issues. Take a look, read through it and ask yourself where you stand. It hope that it will be revealing and enjoyable!
The following comes from http://www.studentnewsdaily.com:
Conservative vs. Liberal Beliefs
“We all want…the same things in life. We want freedom; we want the chance for prosperity; we want to be the best we can be; we want as few people suffering as possible, economically; we want healthy children; we want to have crime-free streets; all these things, they’re pretty common…The argument is how to achieve them.”
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CONSERVATIVES – believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems. |
LIBERALS – believe in governmental action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all, and that it is the duty of the State to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights. Believe the role of the government should be to guarantee that no one is in need. Believe that people are basically good. Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve people’s problems. |
THE ISSUES:
|
ISSUE |
CONSERVATIVE |
LIBERAL |
|
Abortion |
Human life begins at conception. Abortion is the murder of a human being. Nobody has the right to murder a human being. Support legislation to prohibit partial birth abortions, called the “Partial Birth Abortion Ban” (partial birth abortion - the killing of an unborn baby of at least 20 weeks by pulling it out of the birth canal with forceps, but leaving the head inside. An incision is made in the back of the baby’s neck and the brain tissue is suctioned out. The head is then removed from the uterus.) |
A fetus is not a human life. The decision to have an abortion is a personal choice of a woman regarding her own body and the government should stay out of it. Women should be guaranteed the right to a safe and legal abortion, including partial birth abortion. |
|
Affirmative action |
People should be admitted to schools and hired for jobs based on their ability. It is unfair to use race as a factor in the selection process. Reverse-discrimination is not a solution for racism. |
Due to prevalent racism in the past, minorities were deprived of the same education and employment opportunities as whites. We need to make up for that. Support affirmative action based on the belief that America is still a racist society. Minorities still lag behind whites in all statistical measurements of success. Also, the presence of minorities creates diversity. |
|
Death penalty |
The death penalty is a punishment that fits the crime; it is neither ‘cruel’ nor ‘unusual’. Executing a murderer is the appropriate punishment for taking an innocent life. |
We should abolish the death penalty. The death penalty is inhumane and is ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment. It does not deter crime. Imprisonment is the appropriate punishment. Every execution risks killing an innocent person. |
|
Economy |
The free market system, competitive capitalism, and private enterprise afford the widest opportunity and the highest standard of living for all. Free markets produce more economic growth, more jobs and higher standards of living than those systems burdened by excessive government regulation. |
Favor a market system in which government regulates the economy. We need government to protect us against big businesses. Unlike the private sector, the government is motivated by public interest. We need government regulation to level the playing field. |
|
Education - school vouchers |
School vouchers will give all parents the right to choose good schools for their children, not just those who can afford private schools. Parents (who pay the taxes that fund the schools) should decide how and where to educate their child. |
School vouchers are untested experiments. We need to focus on more funding for existing public schools -to raise teacher salaries and reduce class size. |
|
the Environment |
Desire clean water, clean air and a clean planet, just like everyone else. However, extreme environmental policies destroy jobs and damage the economy. Changes in global temperatures are natural over long periods of time. So far, science has not shown that humans can affect permanent change to the earth’s temperature. |
Conservatives don’t care about protecting the environment. Global warming is caused by an increased production of carbon dioxide. The U.S. is a major contributor to global warming because it produces 25% of the world’s carbon dioxide. The U.S. should enact laws to significantly reduce that amount. |
|
Gun control |
The Second Amendment gives the individual the right to keep and bear arms. Gun control laws do not thwart criminals. You have a right to defend yourself against criminals. More guns mean less crime. |
The Second Amendment gives no individual the right to own a gun, but allows the state to keep a militia (National Guard). Guns kill people. Guns kill children. |
|
Health care |
Free healthcare provided by the government (socialized medicine) means that everyone will get the same poor-quality healthcare. The rich will continue to pay for superior healthcare, while all others will receive poor-quality free healthcare from the government. Health care should remain privatized. |
Support universal government-supervised health care. There are millions of Americans who can’t afford health insurance. They are being deprived of a basic right to healthcare. |
|
Homeland security |
Wary of parts of the Patriot Act |
Oppose the Patriot Act |
|
Immigration |
Support legal immigration at current numbers, but do not support illegal immigration. Government should enforce immigration laws. Oppose President Bush’s amnesty plan for illegal immigrants. Those who break the law by entering the U.S. illegally should not have the same rights as those who obey the law by entering legally. If there were a decrease in cheap, illegal immigrant labor, employers would have to substitute higher-priced domestic employees, legal immigrants, or perhaps increase mechanization. |
Support legal immigration and increasing the number of legal immigrants permitted to enter the U.S. each year. Support blanket amnesty for current illegal immigrants. Believe that regardless of how they came to the U.S., illegal immigrants deserve: Illegal immigrants do the jobs that Americans do not want to do. |
|
Religion |
The phrase “separation of church and state” is not in the Constitution. The First Amendment to the Constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” This prevents the government from establishing a national church. However, it does not prevent God from being acknowledged in schools and government buildings. Oppose the removal of symbols of Christian heritage from public and government spaces. Government should not interfere with religion and religious freedom. |
Support the separation of church and state. Religious expression has no place in government. Support the removal of all references to God in public and government spaces. Religion should not interfere with government. |
|
Same-sex marriage |
Marriage is between one man and one woman. Opinions differ on support for the creation of a constitutional amendment establishing marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Believe that requiring citizens to sanction same-sex relationships violates moral and religious beliefs of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who believe marriage is the union of a man and a woman. |
Marriage should be legal for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples to ensure equal rights for all. All individuals, regardless of their sex, have the right to marry. Believe that prohibiting same-sex citizens from marrying denies them of their civil rights. Opinions differ on whether this issue is equal to civil rights for African Americans. |
|
Social Security |
The current Social Security system is in serious financial trouble. Changes are necessary because the U.S. will be unable to maintain the current system it in the future. Support proposal to allow a portion of Social Security dollars withheld to be put into an account chosen by the individual, not the government. |
Generally oppose change to the current Social Security system. Opinions vary on whether the current system is in financial trouble. Changing the current system will cause people to lose their Social Security benefits. Support a cap on Social Security payments to the wealthy. |
|
Taxes |
Support lower taxes and a smaller government. Lower taxes create more incentive for people to work, save, invest, and engage in entrepreneurial endeavors. Money is best spent by those who earn it. |
Support higher taxes and a larger government. High taxes enable the government to do good and create jobs. We need high taxes for social welfare programs, to provide for the poor. We can’t afford to cut taxes. |
|
United Nations (UN) |
The UN has repeatedly failed in its essential mission: to preserve world peace. The wars, genocide and human rights abuses of the majority of its member states (and the UN’s failure to stop them) prove this point. History shows that the United States, not the UN, is the global force for spreading freedom, prosperity, tolerance and peace. The U.S. should never subvert its national interests to those of the UN. |
The United States has a moral and a legal obligation to support the United Nations (UN). The UN can be effective in promoting peace and human rights. The U.S. should not have acted in Iraq without UN approval. The U.S. should submit its national interests to the greater good (as defined by the UN). |
|
War in Iraq |
This was a preemptive strike to protect the U.S. All intelligence indicated that Saddam Hussein possessed and used weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in the past and was prepared to use them again. He would not allow United Nations weapons inspectors to confirm his claim that he had destroyed his WMDs. A democracy can succeed in Iraq if the people are given the opportunity to create one. All people want to live in freedom. |
This is Bush’s war for oil. Saddam Hussein was no real threat. We have not found weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), so Saddam did not have any. President Bush lied about WMDs and the dangers posed by Saddam. We should have given the UN more time. We have alienated the rest of the world by our unilateral action (‘go it alone’ attitude). A democracy can’t succeed in Iraq. Not everyone wants to live in a democracy. |
|
War on terror/terrorism |
The world toward which the Militant Islamists strive cannot peacefully co-exist with the Western world. In the last decade, Militant Islamists have repeatedly attacked Americans and American interests here and abroad. The terrorists must be stopped and destroyed. |
9/11 was caused by America’s arrogant foreign policy. America needs to stop angering other countries. The threat posed by terrorism is exaggerated by President Bush for his own political advantage. |
|
Welfare |
Oppose long-term welfare. We need to provide opportunities to make it possible for poor and low-income workers to become self-reliant. It is far more compassionate and effective to encourage a person to become self-reliant, rather than keeping them dependent on the government for money. |
Support welfare. We need welfare to provide for the poor. Conservatives oppose welfare because they are not compassionate toward the poor. We have welfare to bring fairness to American economic life. Without welfare, life below the poverty line would be intolerable. |
Note sure it's 100% unbiased...
Hi Bill,
While I agree that it's important for people to make decisions by cutting through the spin all too frequently employed by politicians, I'm not sure the above chart is 100% unbiased. The site seems to have a slight right-leaning bent, as evidenced by their section on media bias (only liberal media bias is a reality according to the site) and their political cartoons that often come from RighToons.com, a political cartoon website that has a "conservative tone."
I think the quote at the beginning of the article is great, in that we all want the same things, but just have different ideas on how to get there. When it comes to the issue by issue comparison, though, I think that there are many instances where the "liberal" position is more of a caricature.
For example, there are many instances where the "liberal" position starts off with "the conservatives are wrong." That's a fairly weak position for either side to hold, and I don't think it serves either side to simplify the other's in such terms.
On speciific issues, I don't think most "liberals" believe that the government should solve all of the people's problems, as suggested by the grid. There are over simplifications on many issues, like the economy where the author states that "liberals" want the "government to protect us from big businesses" and the environment where it states that "liberals" think "industrial growth harms the environment." Also, on the 2nd amendment, it states that the liberal position is that the "second amendment gives no individual right to own a gun" and that when it comes to taxes "liberals" simply want "higher taxes and a larger government."
I think if the "liberal" side was written out as carefully as the "conservative" side it would have been a much better resource. Either way, I think that we need to stop this box thinking about who we are, and think for ourselves when it comes to issues, instead of checking a box on either side and thinking, "yep, I'm a (whatever)."
After looking through the list, I actually found many cases where I'm a mix of both boxes. I think we need to stop talking in absolutes and see where we can find some common ground in this country. I think most people don't fit so neatly into the "conservative" or "liberal" checklist anyways.
~Justin
Justin,
Justin,
I looked again but see no bias. I find the chart on the conservative side to be pretty accurate but it needs more explanation. You probably see that from your perspective yourself. It does illustrate the core beliefs of some of the major candidates; more of Obama and Clinton than McCain but he is a blend of both sides.
I don't see the liberal side as caricature but I believe that you are referring to the simplicity but no one sees things exactly. For instance I believe in a woman's right to choose but not partial birth abortion. I believe in some gun control (military type weapons in civilian hands) but not abolition of guns.
Justin, you stated:
"I think the quote at the beginning of the article is great, in that we all want the same things, but just have different ideas on how to get there. When it comes to the issue by issue comparison, though, I think that there are many instances where the "liberal" position is more of a caricature." Not really but it does, however, give one a sense of what the candidates stand for because God forbid, the politicians tell you what you want to hear.
Justin, you stated:
"On speciific issues, I don't think most "liberals" believe that the government should solve all of the people's problems, as suggested by the grid".
Good point on your part but if you look at Obama and Clinton, all of there solutions come from 'government' and they do not like or respect the private sector solutions. As far as the government protecting us from "big businesses", that is absolutely happening right now....take a look at big oil, banks, oil companies, Wal-Mart, etc. The Left has disdain for these industries with a cry to nationalize oil.....that is a fact.
We are all a mix of the boxes if we are thinking and reasoning individuals and not zealots. Exactly my point as a matter of fact...without that...we will remain at the impasse where we are now. Suspicion about where the facts come from, as you illustrated in your response to the blog, highlight the fact that both sides operate from a position of distrust.
The question begs, the truth is not relative!
99% Liberal and Proud Of It
Thanks for sharing this with the public, Bill. It is a pretty good view of where we each stand.
Sure Is
Yes, Michael it sure is an accurate snapshot.
If politicians stated their positions in this way rather than spin and squirm, it would certainly change the political landscape a bit.
Seldom does the average undecided voter think in terms that are consistent with belief on policies and core belief.
It sickens me that voters choose a candidate for their charisma, looks, gender, race, military history, empty rhetoric BUT support of a candidate today seems to be a one dimensional choice based on narrow criteria.
One should ask themselves what their true beliefs are and then compare them to this chart. Intelligent voters would certainly benefit from that!
There is little discussion in the media of core belief and 99% of the discussion is from a vantage point that does not really mean much!
I Like the Chart
I like the chart. It is a fair and accurate description of the relative views of each group. I also like that there are very few adjectives used to describe the two groups. I'm impressed that these students are taking the time to analyze the differences.
While I do not like the political Views of candidate Obama, I like the fact that young people are becoming excited about his candidacy and involving themselves in the system.
I believe as they gain age, wisdom and experience their examination of the issues will eventually lead them to the conservative side of the chart. As Churchill once said, "If you're twenty and not a liberal you have no heart. If you are forty and not a conservative you have no brain. Spoken tongue in cheek, conservatism requires ideals to be tempered with real world experience.
Thanks Scott!
I agree with Churchill but I hope that the youth vote will not yield us an Obama presidency. I remember the Carter presidency and the political atmosphere was much like it is today. The youth vote organized and we spent four grueling years under Carter.
I do remember that many of those who turned to Carter did an about face and elected Reagan four years later. I guess that was the positive out of the Carter years!
As far as age and wisdom, we have many "children of the 60's" who still live amongst us and still preach their dogma and are locked into the "liberal" mindset. I know many who have waited for a moment like this for a very long time.
However, if the vitriol between Obama and Clinton is an example of how the other side would lead, well, it would be another Carter presidency. The pendulum may swing but no one should think that it will stop swinging.
I also agree with you that conservative thought is tempered with real world experience. I travel a lot and see things for myself that liberals dismiss as anecdotal. Until you have run a business or attempted to make profit, you do not understand just how difficult it is. Many liberals speak of greed and see profit as some evil; most have no idea how the world works.
As always, thanks for your comments Scott!
These students did a fantastic job. Thank you for sharing this, Bill.
More proud than ever to be 99% Conservative,
Judy