"Andrew Gideon" wrote in message
online.com...
I may never understand American politics.

As if one could understand politics anywhere.

I thought that "conservative" in
the US included "promoting/protecting big business". So wouldn't the
particular example of "taking" (ie. legalized theft) be a "conservative"
position in the US?

There's no such thing as a true "conservative" or a true "liberal" today.
"Libertarian" probably comes the closest to what might have been considered
a "conservative" in the past.

A true conservative would be caution about ANY government regulation. Yes,
this has the tendency to be hands-off with respect to business. But it also
would mean being hands-off with civil liberties and personal freedom.
Today's "conservatives" are anything but.

A true conservative would also be fiscally responsible. Spending only
today's money today, rather than tomorrow's, for example. Again, not
something any "conservative" today seems to be in favor of.

Wrong is wrong, of course. But I'm still trying to get this "liberal vs.
conservative" thing straight.

They are just terms used to divide the country. And I mean "divide" in the
most obnoxious, inefficient, conflict-creating way. They have very little
relation to the dictionary definitions of the words. Both sides are fairly
liberal in their interpretation of what a government should do;
"conservatives" are liberal in their attitude that they should decide what
you should and should not do, while "liberals" are liberal in their attitude
that they should decide who you should and should not help.

Neither seems to understand the concept of keeping their grubby fingers out
of the daily lives of the people they govern.

Pete