The Difference Between Conservatives & Progressives

HERITAGE EXPLAINS

The 3 Big Differences Between Conservatives and Progressives

Conservatives say people should have choices. Progressives say one political solution fits all.

 

What’s the difference between a conservative and a progressive?

Here are three examples.

America’s Biggest Issues: Conservatism vs. Progressivism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_n91jY2KxM

 

 

No. 1: Conservatives and progressives have different views about individuals and communities.

Conservatives ask: “What can I do for myself, my family, my community, and my fellow citizens?”

Progressives ask: “What is unfair?” “What am I owed?” “What has offended me today?” “What must my country do for me?”

The traditional American ethic of achievement gives way to the progressive ethic of aggrievement.

As opposed to a variety of individuals making up one American community, progressives seek to place individuals in a variety of competing communities. The first creates unity. The second, identity politics.

 

 

No 2.: Conservatives and progressives have different views about diversity and choice.

For progressives, different ethnicities and gender identities are welcomed but a variety of opinions and ideas are not.

Just look at two areas of public life dominated by the left. On college campuses free speech is under attack. If you’re a conservative working at a social media company or using one of their platforms to share your views, you may find your job eliminated or your account deleted.

And when it comes to choice, progressives love the word, but they don’t want it to apply to our decisions on education, health care, and even how and where we live out our religious faith.

Conservatives take a different approach.

Parents, not the zip code they live in, should choose the school that is best for their child.

We all need health care, but we don’t all need the same kind or same amount. And while people should be free to live as they choose, no one should be forced to endorse or celebrate those choices if it violates their religious beliefs.

Conservatives say people should have choices. Progressives say one political solution fits all.

 

 

No. 3: Conservatives and progressives have a different view of “We the People.”

Whether it’s the Second Amendment, immigration, or putting limits on abortion, if we the people don’t pass laws progressives approve, they turn to judges, executive orders, and government bureaucrats behind closed doors to overturn the will of voters.

Whatever one may think about the wisdom of hiking the minimum wage, banning plastic straws, or removing controversial historical monuments, conservatives believe voters closest to the issues should be the ones making such decisions for their communities—not lawmakers in Washington or a panel of judges fives states away.

To sum it up, conservatives believe in individual rights, not special rights. Conservatives believe in allowing Texas to be Texas and Vermont to be Vermont. And conservatives believe we the people can vote with our feet about where we want to live and what laws we want to live under.

 

 

The Heritage Foundation

https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/heritage-explains/the-3-big-differences-between-conservatives-and-progressives

 

 

 

The Difference Between Conservatives & Progressives

The Advocates for Self-Government

 

 

What are the differences between Conservatives and Progressives?

Differences between conservatives and progressives are as stark as those between libertarians and authoritarians, even though both conservatives and progressives each have liberal and illiberal leanings, respectively. Contrasts come down to the issues on which they are either more or less liberal, which almost always differ. In other words, conservatives are more liberal when it comes to economic freedom, whereas progressives tend to be more liberal when it comes to personal freedom. This inversion of commitments means both conservatives and progressives will make common cause with libertarians or authoritarians (depending on the issue) but almost never with each other. Such stark contrast creates the left/right dichotomy that seems to be more familiar in contemporary politics. Still, that dichomy obscures the liberal/illiberal distinction, which is increasingly important in the twenty-first century.

 

How are Conservatives and Progressives similar?

Due to conservatives’ and progressives’ inverted commitments to either economic or personal freedom, respectively, there are virtually no similarities between conservatives and progressives.

 

More About Conservatives

Conservatives score higher on economic freedom but lower on personal freedom. For example, conservatives generally support honest entrepreneurship and free enterprise but think that too much personal freedom breeds widespread immorality. Conservatives thus worry that excesses in personal freedom can lead to cultural or civilizational decline.

 

More About Progressives

Progressives (sometimes referred to as “liberals”) score lower on economic freedom but higher on personal freedom. That means progressives are quicker to embrace values of personal choice but place a comparatively lower value on private property rights or investment, production, and exchange. Many progressives think capitalism is a system that allows the strong to prey upon the vulnerable.

 

 

The Advocates for Self-Government

https://www.theadvocates.org/the-difference-between-conservatives-and-progressives/