What’s the difference? A Big one!
I decided to give my thoughts regarding the difference between a conservative and a Republican, and more importantly, why this difference is so important.
I am proudly conservative, but what does that mean? Not proud, the other one. Are conservatives Republican? Are Republicans conservative? I would suppose the former is much more true than the latter, but that is not what is important here. What is critical to remember, is the difference.
Most people assume that conservative or liberal, otherwise know as left or right (the adverb not the adjective) indicate where you sit on the political spectrum. This is partially true. There are really two different political lines you have to plot yourself on when determining what you are. One is fiscal concerns (here is where conservative or liberal work) and social concerns (here is where authoritarian or libertarian come into play). If you place one line vertically and the other horizontally, effectively making an X and a Y axis, you can begin to see the four real quadrents a person call fall into, not just two as is the common thought. A great example of this including a quiz to plot yourself can be found at politicalcompass.org (be sure to scroll down to find your personal results at the end!!) The political party you vote for may fall any number of place on either of these two lines.
My point of all this is: SUPPORT A BELIEF SYSTEM, NOT A PARTY! You may find one party or the other fall more closely in line with your beliefs on a regular basis, and that’s fine. Just don’t get caught blindly supporting someone because of the party they run under. It may seem like the lesser of two evils at times, and honestly, I do not know what the answer is for that. I am a authoratative conservative that usually votes republican. I am not calling for the removal of the two party system, but that’s a discussion for another day.
Hey, I’m all for hacking away the two-party system. But my old poli sci prof (who ran for Congress and lost…) explained that the system is set up to discourage the addition of parties. What do YOU think?