Liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. Within liberalism, there are various streams of thought which compete over the use of the term "liberal" and may propose very different policies, but they are generally united by their support for constitutional liberalism, which encompasses support for: freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, an individual's right to private property,[2] and a transparent system of government.[3][4][5] All liberals, as well as some adherents of other political ideologies, support some variant of the form of government known as liberal democracy, with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law.[6]
Conservatism in the United States is a major American political ideology. In contemporary American politics, it is often associated with the Republican Party. Core conservative principles include a belief in God and country, and many U.S. conservatives support a fiscal policy rooted in small government, laissez faire capitalism, and supply-side economics. In foreign policy, American conservatives usually advocate some moderate aspects of "American exceptionalism", a belief that the U.S. is unique among nations and that its standing and actions do and should guide the course of world history.
Well both ideals seem to be paved in good intention, yet the devil is in the details. Let's start with the ideals affecting us most now, the ones that deal with the economy. The conservative approach believes in a laissez faire approach to capitalism. Okay let the big guys on Wall Street run the show in the assumption that they will play fairly, look out for the common welfare of all who are affected by their decisions and put ethics before profits. Okay so that's a pile of crap, we all know what has happens (and has happened) when you de-regulate big business. They will rape and pillage until nothing is left. It's like telling a virus to play nice and to not spread too much. It's inherit nature does not allow it to follow such a path. Next Supply-side economics, Well that just puts us back to square one. This philosophy shares the same inherit problem of laissez faire economics. You can't expect to give all the chips to the big boys and expect them to spread them out fairly, I mean you literally give all the power to huge corporations (and those who run it). These corporations are only accountable to their shareholders NOT the American people. In doing this you create an entirely different social entity, A Plutocracy! Which is an Oligarchy, which is to say a government controlled by the wealthy few. Very scary stuff indeed.
Liberalism on the other hand, strives to give the people, equal and fair rights throughout, It is not god based, it is people based. It also strives to make the people more involved and have more control over their government. It is after all a democracy and the people should have the rule not Corporation Owners like Rupert Murdoch, who owns the 5th largest media conglomerate in the world and has a very strong far-right agenda that is more than apparent in his news arm of media. However the liberals are not perfect either, the road is on the right path but far more challenging, after all it's easier to give the keys to the house to a selected few, far more a challenge to give them to the entire nation.
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