Hyperbole

I started writing this as a comment to this entry in Brain Flossing, and realized my response was too long for a comment. So I'll post it to my own blog, thank you very much. ;-)

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I think that defining who is a conservative and who is a liberal is often a fruitless exercise. (Granted, I participate in this fruitlessness on a regular basis, but please, do as I say, not as I do...)

The problem is, few thinking people "tow the party line" on all issues -- many of the left side of the aisle side with the right on some issues, and vice versa. What's more, majorities on one side or the other can behave in a manner which is entirely contrary to the other without in fact being properly labelled as opposite. Case in point "fiscal conservatism":
to be fiscally conservative means to abhor deficits, eschew excess spending, and above all seek to "live within your means" (read, balance the budget.) Liberals are classically scapegoated for violating this, yet Clinton (regarded by many as a liberal), with a good deal of Democratic support, balanced the budget. On the contrary, the various popular "conservative" movements over the last few decades ("supply-side economics", flat tax movement, etc.) are fiscally very liberal -- they have sought to cut taxes while at the same time increasing spending (generally more on guns then butter.) So who is the conservative here? Budget-balancing Clinton, or deficit hiking Reagan and G.W. Bush? (To his credit, G.H.W. Bush was a fiscal conservative as well -- it cost him his reelection.) Many politicos on both sides of the aisle are fiscal conservatives, and many are not.

So if I hold views which are liberal and others which are conservative, am I then a "moderate"? I used to label myself that -- but what does it mean? What if I really believe the which would garner these former labels -- do I have to attenuate that believe with "moderation"? This is silly.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop with this one (a nice hot button to press), my view (short version) on abortion. (After all, if I don't make it personal, then it's all just abstract.):

I think abortion is awful. It's one of the most awful things mankind has wreaked upon itself. It is a terrible black mark upon our nation's psyche, and the hearts of countless women and girls who choose to do it. Am I "pro-life"? Am I a Conservative?

I think abortion must absolutely always remain legal. Sometimes to rule out an abortion means that the mother will surely die, possibly leaving other already-born children without a mother. Sometimes women and girls are impregnated against their will, and ever too often by a close family member. What's more, if abortion were not legal, it would still continue to be practiced, but unregulated and unaccountably. Countless women would become ill, injured, or even killed by improper technique and lack of adequate postoperative care. I will always support the right for a woman to terminate her pregnancy. Am I "pro-choice"? Am I a Liberal?

Conservatism and Liberalism, Conservatives and Liberals, these are straw men. People believe things, follow their consciences, follow their pocketbooks, and sometimes follow the desires of their benefactors. Parties organize around particular issues, put them in their "platform", then members of the parties either agree, compromise their differences with silence, or defy leadership and break ranks.

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In case you're wondering, I plan to continue to use the terms liberal and conservative, because it's too complicated to talk about politics without them. But these thoughts flood through my head most every time.