I have been puzzled for some time by the misleading terms of conservative and liberal, are they junk?
Perhaps we could hammer out some more precise terms that could supercede these terms that don't describe personal ideologies very well, if at all.
For conservative, I would say classical liberal which I had always thought was the implied meaning anyway but, that's clearly out the door. This could
give big government social conservatives possession of the term that best summarizes their official position.
For liberal, progressive is the clear winner. This could allow individualists to reclaim the term as it was intended and give big government
socialists a less misleading credo.
Individualist is a candidate for advocates of personal freedom and limited government. (but falling short of total anarchy).
Collectivist seems to be accurate for proponents of fairness and increased government (but falling short of totalitarian communism).
It has been pointed out that we have some compound phrases for some (but not all) variations such as social liberal/fiscal conservative but, I am
really questioning whether someone who says that really means freedom through limited government. In most cases they just mean fairness legislation
and balanced budgets which couldn't be further from the essential meaning of an individualist.
Naturally, there are grey areas in here but the idea is to make people think about throwing around these otherwise careless monikers.
I am not proposing a new polar system to supplant the previous incarnation but, rather I am suggesting that we expand the terminology to better
identify our articles of faith in a meaningful way.
Clearly, I have some bias here because I am a red-blooded human with attitudes and experiences that have shaped my philosophy.
The question here is not which is the best arrangement for civilization. I am hoping for this to be a lexicological exploration. That said, don't hold
back!
edit on 3-9-2013 by greencmp because: (no reason given)