In the wake of the presidential elections, there is a divided nation that can't seem to get along over anything, bringing disagreements to the point of violence. It has come to my attention that most people think that the two sides are incompatible; the Right will accuse the Left of making decisions on emotion, and the Left will accuse the Right of making decisions based on dogma. However, both will claim they, themselves, make decisions based on reason. I have always thought it is important to understand how other people think and why they think the way they do, so I would implore to others to look at the difference between conservative and liberal reasoning.
Let's first differentiate between the types of people who should not be considered liberals, and the types of people who should not be considered conservatives. What I mean by this is the extreme sides of the spectrum. Imagine your super hippie Woodstock commune types. Those aren't liberals; we don't claim them because they don't reflect our idea of what it means to be progressive. On the flip side, conservatives won't take the opinions of the Westboro Baptists or the KKK types (aka ultra-conservative racists). They aren't taken seriously because they aren't considered to be rational people. Both sides have their problem children.
Now we can talk about who these people really are. Both parties are a lot closer to center than the media might make them out to be. That small shift from center, however, causes a large disagreement on how a few very specific things should be done. This disagreement causes the two sides to berate each other with insults and claims of undeniable superiority.
The biggest difference between them that causes this feud is the foundation of the parties. The names of the parties reflect that core function. Conservatives want to conserve what they have now and resist change. Progressives do not mind sacrificing what they already have, or could have, to further progress and change. Here is a very current example of this difference that affects me:
Recently, the Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, announced that transgender people may now openly serve in the United States Military. This may be a controversial subject for some, and for others it may be no big deal at all. But for many members of our armed services, allowing this will be a difficult change to adapt to. Like the transition to allow homosexual members serve openly, it will receive major lash-back by a large number of conservative leaning American citizens. Conservatives in particular because of the previously mentioned resistance of change. On the flip side, many of the Left-leaning media outlets are praising the decision.
As said by our president, Barack Obama: "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." There isn't much that can be done about change, good or bad.
