What does it mean to be a 'liberal' or conservative

[SuperDemocrat]

I've considered myself pretty liberal most of my life. I really didn't care if the rich got richer and I had zero passion for issues like abortion and I still don't but no matter what I still find myself being thrown into the conservative side by 'liberals'. I'm didn't understand why we needed a strong military after the cold war was over with in the early 90s and I didn't get why the left seemed unenthusiastic to fight a war against Islamic terrorist. On some issues I agreed with the right and others I agreed with the left on but anytime I agreed with the left I was expected to agree with them on everything. I didn't feel that with righties but if I agreed with them on one issue I was labeled as enemy of the people by the left.
I really wonder what we would be if we didn't have these political labels at all? What side would we take if we didn't have these labels at all? Who would we argue with? Who would we fight with? How would we know who are political enemies are and how would we know who to screw over because of that?

 

[Windship]

There would still be propaganda to sway the public. No diff.

 

[SuperDemocrat]

There would still be propaganda to sway the public. No diff.

What do we call propaganda if it happens to be the truth?

 

[aaronleland]

In today's political climate you aren't allowed to form your own opinions based on individual issues. I've been called a liberal or conservative or Republican or Democrat many times on this board. The best part is I'm usually either called a liberal or Democrat, but I've only ever supported Republican candidates. Most people are just political hacks.

 

[DGS49]

Basically, "Liberals" and "Conservatives" have a fundamentally different view of the role of government vis-à-vis the people. Conservatives basically align themselves with the philosophy laid out in the Declaration of Independence and the original Constitution, and Liberals favor a national government along the lines of the "social democracies" of Europe, where Government, in effect, replaces families and churches as the backbone and safety net of society. Conservatives see human rights as granted by God, with Government as an institution that protects them, while Liberals believe that human and civil rights are granted by Government, and can be constrained by Government.

As you have noted, there are side positions that the two "camps" have adopted that either are unrelated to these two basic philosophies, or seem to contradict them.

Why do Liberals scorn nuclear power? Why have they adopted elective abortion as a secular "sacrament"? Why the resentment of the Military? Why do most of them view humans as an "invasive species" on the earth?

Makes no sense.