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Liberalism is centered on liberty, i.e. individual freedom. In a liberal society, a person is free; he answers to no master but himself. His value to society is defined by his ability to compete in a free market. "Winners" -- those with ambition, talent, skill and luck -- are deemed to be valuable to society, and are rewarded with wealth and power. However, some people lack the ambition, talent, skill, and luck needed to amass wealth. In a liberal, these "losers" are deemed to be of little value, and are equally free -- free to survive as best they can.

The question is: which sort of society do we wish to inhabit? A liberal society, where freedom is the highest value, reason the only authority, where the fittest succeed and the unfit are nothing more than useless eaters? Or a Christian society, where love is the highest value, where God is the highest power, and where even the lazy, untalented, unskilled, and unlucky are deemed deserving of basic human dignity?

I was just listening to Michael Savage a few minutes ago and he touched upon this idea. I made a point I always do where if there are no controls, rules, or whatever, there will be men out there that will take advantage for the sake of power and he made the point where in this case, there is no difference between the uber-capitalist and the power hungry communist, both will use the lack of controls to gain power over their fellow man.

I know myself, given the two choices you pointed out, I'd rather choose the society based on Judeo-Christian rules where everyone is deserving of basic dignity and respect. I think without some sort of controls and rules to where society can generally agree on, society will degrade to the point to where someone will gain power over all or most.

The words "conservative" and "liberal" have lost their meaning in our revolutionary world. It is time we restored those meanings. In brief: the idea that man is his own master, that freedom is the ultimate good, and that each man has no duty save to himself is the creed of the liberal. A true conservative holds to the ancient truths: that love is the ultimate good, that God is the supreme Authority, and that each man has a duty to love and care for his fellowman.

The question is not Democrat vs. Republican. It is not political. It is not even philosophical. The question is spiritual.

Liberty or love? Reason or obedience? Rights or duties? We all must decide which things we hold most dear. I know where I stand.

I like to look at things and view them and ask the question, "is it right or wrong" instead of "is it donkey/elephant, left/right, liberal/conservative?" I know we seem to have lost the meanings of liveral and conservative but it seems like words change over times. The person who voted for JFK or FDR in the 1960's or 1930's, might have been considered middle of the road or liberal in their times but generally if you brought that person to today's world, most likely, they will have a lot of conservative views. I have a book on politics somewhere, written in the 1980's and I'm sure it can still be updated a bit but the basic definitions still apply where the liberal of today is a member of the "New Left" to where they are very liberal on many social issues. Basically, he was the hippie of the 1960's and part of the bloc that started with the George McGovern type mentality that pervades the Democratic Party from 1972 or so to this very day. Conservatives are made up with a gaggle of business interests, religious conservatives and many disgruntled New Dealers and their children who feels the Democrat party has left them.

I remember Glenn Beck made the point that a libertarian society will not work in today's world and we are not ready for it. I don't think we will ever be, I don't know but you do need to address responsibilities that go along with rights. Even Thomas Jefferson, a hero to many libertarians, made a point to where "if men were angels, there would be no need for government."