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Does liberal mean democrat?? If not then what does democrat mean?
I was talking to my friends and one of them asked me if i was a liberal or a conservative. We were talking about elections so i figured it was like asking if i was a democrat or not but i wasn't sure so I just kinda said I had to run and I didn't answer. can you please help me?
Thank you!
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Maybe give some free advice about: Activism?
Dear "Does liberal mean democrat?? If not then what does democrat mean?",
I would say that the advice you have been given so far is very accurate, in terms of definitions.
To Declare you are in favor of any one political party is committing yourself to a set of values. Just like declaring you belong to a certain religion, community group, or organization. To be member you must adhere to their strict guidelines in your beliefs.
I can tell that you are a bit confused about the hole political arena, and you very well should be. It is intended to create confusion with smoke and mirrors so no one knows what the other really stands for.
It is the advice of this Doktor that you do some serious research on-line, in libraries, and in public record halls to find out if there are any parties worth joining.
Who says you have to belong to a political group anyway? You have the right to be neutral, just make sure that you know how to defend that right.
Here is a start for you to your research. I must warn you and anyone who takes this journey that you may find the information hard to accept, and may even deny it as truth. BUT I guarantee that if you continue your searches into these areas, you find that this is in fact happening in our life time.
It is open minds like yours that will turn this nation into the true republic it was meant to be.
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
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Just a start. I hope this helps put things in perspective. I am here if you need me, just ask.
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Damn! That other answer was sort of long, eh? Liberal means that you are open to change and not stuck to the way things are because that's how it's always been. Conservative means you hate change for any reason. You've got to keep it simple, the Democratic and Republican parties don't seem to realize that.
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Liberal and Conservative are political philosophies or ideologies.
Democrat and Republican are political parties.
Most parties have a particular political philosophy which they all support. That is what ties them together.
So the Democrats favor liberalism, and Republicans favor conservatism.
Conservatism is a political philosophy that necessitates a defense of established values or the status quo. Think of the word conserve, it means to safe guard, to protect, to maintain. Conservatism is rooted in preserve existing conditions and institutions or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
Liberalism holds that liberty is the most important thing. Generally, it emphasizes individual rights, freedom of thought, limitations of government power and religious power, and reform to the traditions if those traditions restrict freedom needlessly.
Now these two things might not sound exactly like the Republicans and Democrats to you. That's because political parties pay attention to different parts of these philosophies, and people sometimes disagree about how to best serve the philosophies.
So basically, in the US, the Democrats are the Liberals and the Republicans are the Conservatives.
But remember this: Many, many countries have more then two political parties, and they can be more or less conservative or liberal. The Liberals here in my country, Canada, would hardly recognize an American liberal as one of their own. Even Obama would have trouble selling himself as a liberal in Canada, he's not 'liberal enough' for our liberal party and most Republicans would be laughed out of the Conservative party in here in Canada: We are far too secular and have a much greater percentage of people practicing other religions, so that much God talk doesn't work with us at the federal level. And, we have three other political parties, besides the Liberals and Conservatives who also have different views on these philosophies and they way they promote them.
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