ECONOMIC FREEDOM
Introduction
Liberal or conservative reference is made in regard to economic and political views or affiliations. Finding out the difference between the two terms requires an evaluation of the social issues, economic issues, political views, and psychological traits. People who regard themselves as being liberals or conservatives have different opinions on the above issues (Green, 2002). To have good understanding of the two terms, this paper looks into evaluates each term by establishing the views of conservatives and liberals in different contexts.
Differences between liberal and conservative
Looking at economic issues, the conservatives have a strong belief that the private firms are more capable of providing services in an efficient manner compared to the government. According to conservatives, government regulation impedes business performance and thus, for effective functioning, government regulation should be minimal. This means that conservatives would only want to associate with a government that does not subject people or businesses to higher taxes and at the same time one that maintains a lower level of spending (Lipsman, 2007). On the other hand, liberals have a strong belief that people rely on government to acquire important services like good healthcare, safety and health regulations, and unemployment insurance. To provide such services, as advanced by the liberals, the government needs to levy higher taxes to generate adequate income. In countries like the US, medical programs like Medicaid and Medicare that seek to enhance access to quality and effective medical services, necessitates increased taxation. Liberals find such plans to be very helpful, at times advocating for new strategies that lead to expansion of such programs. Conversely, the hold the view that the government need not introduce such programs and, instead, it should focus on providing vouchers to people to enable them buy private insurance (Fleming, 2004).
With regard to political views, Hamilton (2011) asserts that the liberals are always in favor of a powerful and larger government that subjects the industries to strict regulation. On the other hand, conservatives prefer to have a government that has a limited role in different areas (such as healthcare provision) and maintains the required level of regulation in commerce and in other aspects that affect the lives of the citizens. According to them, the government should privatize healthcare other than sponsoring healthcare institutions. They believe that the private sector should be more involved in providing the various services required by people without any form of interference from the government. As explained by Fleming (2004), an individual who works under minimal regulations can easily manage to undertake a number of activities that are helpful in one way or another. By legislating rules and regulations, the government deprives the people off their political freedom and makes it difficult for them to carry on with their daily activities. Accordingly, conservatives expect the government be more independent and powerful, in a manner that does not involve regulating the political life of an individual. By creating numerous rules and regulations, as argued by the conservatives argue, the government is likely to affect the general performance of individuals, reducing such individual’s involvement in activities that would be beneficial to the country at large.
The differences between conservatives and liberals can also be explained by looking at other moral values like fairness, loyalty, respect, and sanctity. Conservatives regard the value of sanctity, respect and loyalty as being very important but such values are highly ignored by the liberals. In addition, conservatives may feel aggrieved when exposed to dangerous situations like threats and disgusting images. It is important to avoid linking the liberal with libertarians who believe that government role should be at minimal within the economic sphere. Libertarians will always try to associate the government with extreme inefficiency and corruption and believe that it is easier for the private sector to generate improved and better outcomes. This is advanced on the perception that the private sector has the potential of making better and informed decisions in different issues like allocating resources (Wuthnow, 1989). However, liberals appreciate the role of the government in undertaking different activities like resource allocation where the private sector may be inclined towards exploitation of the consumers if it is left unregulated. With regard to the social issues, the conservatives are against some practices like gay marriage and abortion while the liberals are accommodative of such practices (Kirkwood, 2010). Whereas conservatives view such social aspects to be an advent of moral decadence, liberals view such to be the indication of a mature society that appreciates diversity.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is evident that liberals and conservatives have different views on social issues, economic issues, political views, and psychological traits. In short, the difference between the two is that conservatives prefer to establish and maintain both economic and personal freedom, while liberals concentrate more on society welfare. In my opinion, I believe that the views of the conservatives are better because their opinions focus on providing an individual with an acceptable level of economic freedom, while recognizing the need to respect the norms that have been institutionalized through the interaction of diverse people ion society.
References
Fleming, B. E. (2004). Sexual ethics: Liberal vs. conservative. Lanham, Md: Univ. Press of America.
Green, E. H. H. (2002). Ideologies of conservatism: Conservative political ideas in the twentieth century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hamilton, J. T. (2011). All the News That’s Fit to Sell: How the Market Transforms Information into News. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kirkwood, B. (2010). The history of Mexico. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press/ABC-CLIO.
Lipsman, R. L. (2007). Liberal hearts and conservative brains: The correlation between age and political philosophy. New York: IUniverse, Inc.
Wuthnow, R. (1989). The restructuring of American religion: Society and faith since World War II. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
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