A lot of people today don't really consider themselves to be either of these two stereotypes. They simply have the opinions and beliefs that fit their way of life, and what makes their lives more comfortable and easier to live. Many times this can be the best way to go if you have a good grasp on what each stereotype believes in. However, this can also sometimes be a dangerous way to feel about politics, and towards those who we vote for to represent us in the federal government. Without knowing the complete, accurate story, and without understanding the ideological foundation that a congressperson's actions and motivations are built on, some people are sending into our government a person who they not only know little about, but also probably don't pay attention to what this elected official is doing while in office. As a result, we see the apathy that we have today towards our government, but even worse, our ignorance regarding the constitution and what our officials are supposed to be doing is at a dangerously high level.

People have lost sight of why we have the Constitution, what our God-given rights are, and what these rights truly mean. For those of you who have never actually considered yourself to fit in either stereotype, by the time you are done reading this, you might learn that you can actually relate to one of them very closely. What follows here, will hopefully help Americans better understand what our elected officials are doing, and why.

Liberals are the believers of an all knowing, all encompassing, big government where its existence has a significant impact in our lives. They feel that big businesses are the oppressors, and big governments create prosperity. In addition to this, liberals also believe that most people are incapable of doing just about anything in society without the help of the government. Unlike conservatives who feel that people are independent and free individuals--who must work hard to be successful, liberals feel that the government knows our lives better than us, so in their eyes, we are a bunch of mindless sheep who need a government shepherd. This shepherd will then provide us with jobs, put food on our tables, obtain adequate health care, and basically intrude into our private lives in every way possible. Unlike conservatives, liberals also feel that the government can do a better job at raising our children then we can. Don't underestimate the power of your upbringing. Parents have a huge influence on our views when we are young.

When it comes to equality, the liberal will tell you that, through the government, you must "take from the haves, and give to the have nots." Liberals feel it is necessary to tear down, and limit the success of one group in order to promote, and build, the success of another. On the contrary, a conservative will tell you that a better solution is to simply ensure there are no laws or regulations that give preference to any particular group of people, and this includes affirmative action. Conservatives promote achievement and liberals stifle it. Conservatives believe in the rewards of hard work and liberals do not.

Instead of giving a person something that most people are required to put forth some kind of an effort in order to obtain it, conservatives feel that it is better to either show the person how they can more easily obtain it, or give them only the means to do so. (Give them a "hand" instead of a "hand-out")

I have never really considered myself to be "right-wing". I have my beliefs, and have followed them throughout most of my life. Among other things, i believe that the major difference between the right and the left is self responsibility. Personally, I think the major difference is SELF RESPONSIBILITY! I do not blanketly accept the common thought on all right wing issues. I do however, agree with most of them because the underlying message is always, take care of yourself. We're here to lend a helping hand if you need it, but then dust yourself off, and press on. The liberals want to take care of everyone. In effect creating a no-class system of universal equality. Oh wait, that's socialism.

Other people feel that liberals base their beliefs strictly on emotion, while conservatives prefer to use rational logic. The one truth about Liberalism is there are no truths, only feelings. Conservatives use logical...methods to evaluate new information. When combined with trial and error experiences, or knowledge, it can predict an outcome...much like a mathematical equation.

A good example of this can be taken from Election 2000. The Democrats insisted that the ballots used in Florida were not only confusing, but were also designed to deliberately confuse and/or intimidate minority and other Democratic voters. Again and again you would hear this opinion coming out of the mouth of a Democrat. They were so determined to win the election and so passionate about this particular opinion that they all but forgot one key fact about the ballots - which is that they were designed and approved by Democrats a few years before the election!

Liberals do not care for facts and rationality, unless it is to their benefit. They prefer to get at the emotions of people, and they are very effective at doing so. Also only when it is to their benefit, liberals will demand that the freedom of speech or expression not be infringed, or that the free press not be censored. However, if it is an opinion that goes against their flawed logic and rationale, liberals will stop at nothing to ensure that the offending opinion is not heard.

This has been proven on many occasions with the most recent being an ad that was placed in various student papers, at universities around the country. The ad was stating the reasons why reparations for slavery was a bad idea, and the liberal response at each university included the following: protests to remove the ad were launched, papers were stolen off of the news stands, and, in some cases, demands were made to have an opposing ad put into the paper in place of the more conservative view point.

I can go on and on with more examples of the contrasts between the left and right side of the political spectrum, but I think that it can be best summarized with the following: Any man who is under 30 and is not a liberal has no heart and any man who is over 30 and not a conservative has no brains.

What does that mean, you ask? When many people are young, they easily fall prey to the liberal propaganda that is forced-fed to them throughout their entire grade school and high school years. Many of them were very susceptible to the liberals emotion filled speech. As a result, they became very vocal critics of anything conservative. They used this same emotion over and over in an attempt to convince others that they were right.

But then we get older, and wiser. We begin to use more common sense, and logical thinking. We realize that the logic of liberalism is not only full flaws, but there is also not much logic and rationality being used to begin with. It's mostly emotion and scare tactics. We also realize that most conservatives use the undeniable, straightforward facts to make a point. They show you the numbers, examples in history, or whatever else is needed to prove that their way is the right way.

No matter which way you go - to the left or to the right - there are these distinctions between the two groups. The group on the left who feels the world is a big pink and blue padded nursery where the lions lie down with the lambs, and everyone lives happily ever after. Then there is the group on the right. These are the spiritually free and independently thinking men and women of America who wouldn't want the world to be the way the liberals want it to be because it is a world of slaves, and not a world of the free sovereign men and women. Either way, the distinctions have been drawn out here for you to absorb.