Right Field Essays - Political Philosophy, Political Ideologies

Right Field Right Field Many Americans today have totally differing views on the moral aspects of their societies. Politics has taken an aggressive role in determining what people see as right, what others see wrong, and what some people could care less about. Either way each individual has his or her own ideology. An ideology is a person's belief on the values of the government in which they are under. Four basic ideologies are liberalism, socialism, libertarianism, and the most ethical idea of them all--conservatism. Conservatism is the belief that government should have limited power and that citizens should have rights to private property and free enterprise. (Burns et al 246) Conservatism also encourages ideas such as pro-life and discourage ideas such as gun control, pornography, and homosexuality. Overall, conservatism is the most constructive and moral system of belief in America today. The other three ideologies, however, tend to lack the moral and ethical values which conservatism sustains. Liberalism views the government as the control center of America, leaving citizens with minimal power. Liberalism also, unlike conservatism, condones pro-choice, gun control, special rights for homosexual individuals, as well as a various array of other morally compromising ideas. In socialism, the government is believed to be the only power. Socialists want the government to totally support the citizens, which gives the citizens no choice of their own. This ideology is most commonly connected to the viewpoint that Karl Marx strongly believed in. Libertarianism, on the other hand, seeks extremely limited governmental power, thus proposing a hint of anarchism. Although each of these three other ideologies has some traits in common with conservatism, they all lack the ethics which conservatism possesses. Liberalism and conservatism are considered to be rivals because each ideology tends to deal with issues on opposing sides of the spectrum. Some people refer to liberalism as the left and conservatism, the right, because of this reason. Conservatism is also mainly linked to the Republican Party since the viewpoints of each have much in common. They both seek many of the same ethics that construct morals instead of ethics that compromise them. Another product of conservatism, the Christian Coalition, has taken an active part to advocate constructive morals in ideas such as putting prayer back into the public school systems, and placing stronger restrictions on pornography and gay rights. This demonstrates just how conservatism is the only moral, amendment abiding ideology that constructs the values of the American society and promotes a promising future for the environment in which they live. Bibliography Burns, James MacGregor, et al. Liberalism, Conservatism, Socialism, Libertarianism. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. Ed. Laurence Behrens. New York: Longman, 2000. 242-258. Social Issues