On the Liberal-Conservative Spectrum....

[VigorsTheGrey]

How do you understand the words, Liberal and Conservative.....? With regard to politics and religion...? Basically, if you are an American and have American political values then you are more or less Liberal because the American Revolution was essentially a liberal revolution....the conservatives at that time were monarchists...

...In the religious sphere, Catholics are Conservatives and Protestants are viewed as called Liberals...in America, Republicans are viewed as Conservatives and Democrats as Liberals....but there are many Catholics who are Democrats and liberals, and many Protestants who are Conservatives...so the terms get conflated with each other, and in my opinion are basically worthless terms to bandy around anymore....

Can you shed some light on using these terms....?

[VigorsTheGrey]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics

[VigorsTheGrey]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicanism

"Liberalism and republicanism were frequently conflated during this period, because they both opposed absolute monarchy. Modern scholars see them as two distinct streams that both contributed to the democratic ideals of the modern world. An important distinction is that, while republicanism stressed the importance of civic virtue and the common good, liberalism was based on economics and individualism. It is clearest in the matter of private property, which, according to some, can be maintained only under the protection of established positive law."

[VigorsTheGrey]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism

[VigorsTheGrey]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_politics

[VigorsTheGrey]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalism

"In the United States, federalism originally referred to belief in a stronger central government. When the U.S. Constitution was being drafted, the Federalist Party supported a stronger central government, while "Anti-Federalists" wanted a weaker central government. This is very different from the modern usage of "federalism" in Europe and the United States. The distinction stems from the fact that "federalism" is situated in the middle of the political spectrum between a confederacy and a unitary state. The U.S. Constitution was written as a reaction to the Articles of Confederation, under which the United States was a loose confederation with a weak central government.

In contrast, Europe has a greater history of unitary states than North America, thus European "federalism" argues for a weaker central government, relative to a unitary state. The modern American usage of the word is much closer to the European sense. As the power of the Federal government has increased, some people have perceived a much more unitary state than they believe the Founding Fathers intended. Most people politically advocating "federalism" in the United States argue in favor of limiting the powers of the federal government, especially the judiciary (see Federalist Society, New Federalism)."

[VigorsTheGrey]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souverainism

Souverainism (from the French word "souverainisme", i.e. the ideology of sovereignty) or sovereigntism, is a doctrine which supports acquiring or preserving political independence of a nation or a region. It opposes federalism and can be associated with certain independentist movements."

[VigorsTheGrey]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_state

A unitary state is a state governed as a single power in which the central government is ultimately supreme and any administrative divisions (sub-national units) exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate. The majority of states in the world have a unitary system of government. Of the 193 UN member states, 165 of them are governed as unitary states."

[VigorsTheGrey]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligarchy

"Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos), meaning "few", and ἄρχω (arkho), meaning "to rule or to command")[1][2][3] is a form of power structure in which power actually rests with a small number of people. These people might be distinguished by nobility, wealth, family ties, education or corporate, religious or military control. Such states are often controlled by a few prominent families who typically pass their influence from one generation to the next, but inheritance is not a necessary condition for the application of this term.

Throughout history, oligarchies have often been tyrannical, relying on public obedience or oppression to exist. Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich,[4] for which another term commonly used today is plutocracy.

Some contemporary authors have characterized current conditions in the United States as oligarchic in nature.[8][9] Simon Johnson wrote that "the reemergence of an American financial oligarchy is quite recent", a structure which he delineated as being the "most advanced" in the world.[10] Jeffrey A. Winters wrote that "oligarchy and democracy operate within a single system, and American politics is a daily display of their interplay."[11] The top 1% of the US population by wealth in 2007 had a larger share of total income than at any time since 1928.[12] In 2011, according to PolitiFact and others, the top 400 wealthiest Americans "have more wealth than half of all Americans combined."

[VigorsTheGrey]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumières

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumières#/media/File%3AEncyclopedie_frontispice_section_256px.jpg

[TJDave]

A one-sided debate is like masturbation:

Sex with someone you love.

[Marshall Bennett]

Look out Tom. At this rate your post total may be at risk. :)