Liberal Vs Conservative

Many people hear the term liberal vs conservative and they have no real frame of reference of what that actually means.  Although there are plenty of divisions amongst modern American politics, sometimes politicians aren't completely devoted to one side; they become hard to really see which party believes which idea.  However, there are several clear divisions in certain topics that set apart liberal and conservative politics.

Role of The Government.  As a general rule, liberals and conservatives are on polar opposite sides when it comes to how power should be invested in the government.  For liberal politicians, there is generally a more supported belief that the federal government, especially the executive branch, should be given more power to override the powers that are distributed to the state governments.  The idea is that without a strong central government, order would be less apt to work; endowing a smaller amount of people with power prevents traffic and disorganization.  On the other hand, conservatives have generally always believed that the United States was founded on a principle of limited central government and therefore believe power should be vested more in the states.  If a small group is given power, the majority will be set aside and be forced under policies they may not agree with.

Social Politics: Gay Rights and Abortion.  For decades, liberals and conservatives have battled over the advancement of rights of the LGBT community and abortion.  Liberals believe that there is no reason why the government should discriminate against individuals because of their sexual preference.  LGBT groups frequently battle for their right to get married, as current US policy states that legitimate marriages can only exist between and man and woman.  Also, liberals generally believe in the power of pro-choice: a woman has the right to an abortion before a certain time period because it is her body.  On the other hand, conservatives are very wary of going against established principles of marriage and abortion.  Many conservatives are religious, leading them to go against the idea of homosexuality in general.  In addition, many consider the growing baby in a woman to be a living person and support pro-life: it is murder to have an abortion.

The Economy.  The liberals are generally supporters of government spending and partial federal economic influence.  Liberals are wary of  full free market economies because of potential greedy corporations and the free reign of monopolies  In addition, some liberals fear the conservative economic policy to be reckless and focused on the wealthy while having the middle and lower classes suffer.  Because of these beliefs, liberals would rather have the government prevent the development of monopolies and abuse on workers by imposing sanctions on companies that don't follow protocol.  Liberals also believe in the power of union rights.  On the other hand, conservatives strictly believe in an "invisible hand" type economy: the market will dictate what goods rise and fall, not the government.  In addition, conservatives believe that less government influence will foster economic growth while lowering taxes to prevent profit plateaus.  Conservatives also consider unions to be corrupt and irrelevant in this time period.

Health Care.  Being one of the most controversial topics in today's world, liberals and conservatives are strictly divided on the role of socialized healthcare in American society.  On one hand, liberals believe that everyone should be given access to healthcare without having to worry about payments or health insurance.  They believe that people in the lower and even middle class cannot afford privatized health care because policies are too expensive.  On the other hand, conservatives are very against socialized health care for two reasons: one, it takes the government a large amount of federal funding to create an organized system of healthcare.  Two, if healthcare is distributed by the government, people will be considered less as patients and more as numbers.  Additionally, doctors will have to follow procedures established by the government, making it difficult to offer alternative treatment options.