We have many different types of people in the United States. There are no two people that are alike. Every single person has different opinions and has different beliefs. People have different opinions of many various ideas. Two people might have dissimilar opinions, even though they might agree on other opinions. Beliefs are just like opinions, different people believe in different things. We the people of the United States have certain names we give people for their opinions and their beliefs politically. The politicians see people as conservatives and liberals. The conservatives and liberals are used in characterizing the political attitudes of an average American. According to James Q. Wilson, author of American Government, "liberals and conservatives are a way in explaining or justifying their preferences for candidates or policies" (Wilson, page 73). I will be describing what "Liberals" and "Conservatives" mean in the United States today, and to what extent these terms are useful in characterizing the political attitudes of the average American.One of the two different types of people we have in the United States government in a political standpoint is Liberals. Liberals are people who favor a more active federal government for regulating business, supporting social welfare, and protecting minority rights, but who prefer less regulation on private social conduct (Bryant, page 2). In other words liberals are people who are in favor of the government getting involved in their actions. We have different types of liberals in the United States. There are not a lot of people who are liberal or conservative on all the issues. There are people who have liberal beliefs on a certain issue, but they have conservative beliefs on another issue "Though the average citizen cannot be described as being purely liberal or purely conservative, bear in mind that political activists often do display a great deal of attitude consistency. In other words, if they are liberal on one set of issues, they are likely to be liberal on all others" (Wilson, page 75). One type of liberal is Pure Liberals. Pure Liberals are people who are liberal on both economical and social issues (Bryant, page 2). Some liberals might be liberal on just economical issues or social issues, but pure liberals are liberal on both issues. Pure Liberals want the government to reduce economic inequality, regulate business, tax the rich heavily, deal with crime by addressing its economic causes, protect the rights of accused criminals, allow abortion on demand, and guarantee the broadest possible freedoms of speech and press (Bryant, page 4).Another group of people whom we have in the United States are the Conservatives. Conservatives are people who favor more limited and local government, less government regulations of markets, more social conformity to traditional norms and values, and tougher policies toward criminals (Lakoff, page 23). In other words conservatives are people who want the government not to get involved in their affairs. Just like we have Pure Liberals, we have the same with Conservatives. We have different types of Conservatives and one type is Pure Conservatives. Pure Conservatives are conservatives on both economic and social issues. They want less government regulation of businesses, lower taxes and a greater reliance on markets, and they advocate getting tough on criminals, punishing pornographers and cutting back on welfare payments (Bryant, page 6). .Basically, liberal people support the government on many different issues, while conservative people do not support the government or the actions that the government performs. Conservatives would like the government to be changed around and get tougher to discuss certain issues that are very controversial, like punishing criminals, pornographers or other similar things.Liberals and Conservatives play a major role in the characterization of the political attitudes of the average American. Almost every American wants to be part of a major party; they want to be defined as a liberal or a conservative. When a person says that they are Liberal, it describes their beliefs and the kind of standards that person has. For example, when a person says they are liberal we think that the certain individual is probably in a professional occupation, lives in a big city, and has a postgraduate education. The same goes for a person who is a Conservative. When we find out that a person is a Conservative we get certain ideas of that persons beliefs and opinions on certain issues. Pure conservatives are more likely to come from small towns, to live in the Midwest or South, and be involved in business.Being Liberal or Conservative person, we get a sense of how that person will vote in upcoming elections. Liberals have different voting strategies then do Conservatives, but it also depends on the people who are running. Depending on what the people who are running for office say they are going to do. Liberals and conservatives see which side they belong to and then they make their decisions.One of the controversial subjects argued by liberals and conservatives is the issue of abortion. For years people have argued back and forth whether abortion is legal and ethical thing to do. It has been questioned whether or not killing a fetus inside the mother's wound is the same as killing a child that has been born.People who call themselves liberals are the supporters of abortion while those who are opposed to abortion are called conservative. Conservatives argue that no liberal is a good liberal unless she or he supports the "woman's right to choose." The question that people ask themselves is the following: Are the unborn really human? There are two possibilities: Either the fetus developing in the womb is a human being, or it is a blob of protoplasm. There can be no in-between. There can be no half-humans. If pro-choice advocates can prove that a fetus at any stage of development is not human, then their position becomes the correct one. But if they cannot furnish such proof, then the pro-life position becomes correct one.The platform of the Democratic Party introduced a pro-abortion plank that was clearly anti-life which is considered anti-Catholic. The protection of pre-born human life, the most vulnerable of all human life, was discarded in favor of a woman's right to do whatever she wants with the developing human life within her because it is in her body. Instead of promoting a liberal cause in support of birth mothers and their babies, the Democratic Party embraced an elitist cause by promoting the destruction of pre-born and partially born human life. Catholic Democrats, therefore, have an obligation in conscience to do everything they can to reverse the pro-abortion policy of their party and to support those candidates who will protect human life in the womb. Catholic Republicans, on the other hand, have the obligation in conscience to see that their party plank against abortion is acted upon rather than ignored in legislative processes across the nation.Liberals and Conservatives go a long way in the United States. We judge a person whether that person is a Liberal or a Conservative on their actions and beliefs. When we know that a person is Liberal or Conservative, we know how that person stands on certain issues and what that person's beliefs are. Liberals and Conservatives also gofurther then just people knowing what their beliefs and opinions are. Liberals and Conservatives makes a big difference on the way America votes its candidates into office. So being Liberal or Conservative has a great impact on not only the lives of everyday people, but also on the lives of the people who are in office.Having different types of people in the United States means that we will be having many different ideas, beliefs and opinions. With so many different people and so many different ideas, beliefs and opinions, we have a way of telling people apart politically. Liberals and Conservatives are the different names given to people according to their political belief. I have discussed what Liberals and Conservatives mean in the United States and to what extent these terms are useful in characterizing the political attitudes of the average American.
