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Jenna Baranski
WRT 1010
Bill Shea
11-6-16
Defining the Undefinable
In this day and age the world is quickly changing within politics. Each party within our
American political system has high demand for change. These demands include adjustments to
laws such as abortion, gun control, immigration, gay-marriage, taxes, health care, foreign policy,
and government regulations. The time that we live in is full of adjustments. If you were to
compare society today to society back in Abraham Lincoln's time you would see an abundance
of societal differences. In 1862, the time of Abraham Lincoln, the biggest societal struggle was
the issue of slavery. During this time, the word Republican meant declaring the Emancipation
Proclamation for freeing the slaves. In today's political arena things are different. Today, Donald
Trump is leading Republicans thinking he is going to build a wall to keep immigrants out of the
United States. During the time of segregation the Jim Crow laws were passed by democrats. The
Jim Crow laws promoted racial segregation in the southern United States making it that African
Americans had no political power. Currently the head of the Democratic party is Obama who is
the first black president. The words Republican and Democrat have always tended to go along
with the terms conservative and liberal. These terms are the two mainstream ideologies in
American society today.
Being a part of a certain ideology in American culture insinuates you believe a particular
way on specific topics. On the topic of abortion liberals believe it should be legal. For liberals
gun control is a necessity. The point of view taken on by liberalism encourages government
involvement in the day to day lives of Americans. This means that liberals believe that if the

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government controlled almost all aspects of our lives then they would improve. The controls they
refer to are government making it illegal to carry a gun, and making getting abortions legal.
Taking on the political ideology of being a liberal also tends to define you as encouraging
equality for all people. Liberals fight for equality on the issue of health care. Obama passed the
Affordable Care Act under his presidency to ensure everyone had health care. His goal as a
liberal was to even the societal playing field. The Merriam-Webster dictionary also defines the
term liberal as not being bound by the widely accepted belief in society. Liberals are thought of
as going outside of the traditional societal norms. An example of this would be the acceptance of
gay-marriage into mainstream society. Two hundred years ago the political ideology of being a
liberal had the opposite meaning. Back then their beliefs are very similar to what conservatives
want today.
The term conservative is defined as holding strong to traditional values. The traditional
values that are encouraged are referring to illegal abortions, no gun control, and lack of
government regulations. The political ideology that conservatism is today refers to less
government control over the lives of Americans. Conservatives encourage more freedom in
decision making for their lives.The belief geared towards traditional values also refers to not
accepting new ideas. A new idea that is not accepted in this ideology is gay marriage. Gay
marriage is deemed as not traditional because it has not existed as an idea up until this point in
history. Also, the political ideology of conservatives today believe that every American should
be a contributing member to society by earning their living through jobs and careers. The belief
is that if everyone earned their living then government regulation would not be necessary. There
is a huge emphasis on growing the economy through jobs and employment as well. Being a part

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of the conservative ideology today is very similar to the liberal side 100 years ago. The two
ideologies seemed to have switched viewpoints over the past hundred years.
In the 19th century being a liberal meant fighting for economic, political, and personal
freedom. Liberalism during that time consisted of traditional values. Liberals wanted separation
from a large, central government. There was an emphasis on growing the middle class. During
early liberalism Thomas Paine addressed the government as a necessary evil. Conservatism,
however, in the 19th century had a strong reliance on their central government. Their was a trust
and a form of stability coming from it. During that time period Conservatives believed in
government control. Conservatives wanted to conserve the politics they had with the monarchy.
The strong government like a king and queen was comforting. Today these terms fall in contrast
to one another. What was once believed to be liberal in the 19 th century is now considered to be
conservative. The definitions have altered drastically in the past century. In the centuries leading
up to the nineteenth being a part of the conservative ideology encouraged a strong central
government which is opposite of what they believe today. Being a liberal back then thought that
the government being involved in life was bad for society. The beliefs of conservatives and
liberals seem to have switched in the past hundreds of years.
The two mainstream political ideologies have immense impact on our culture. To define
yourself as either conservative or liberal is a very difficult thing to do because of the viewpoints
you accept. Talking about political ideology in society is not encouraged because of the emotions
people attach to them. The political arena today is extremely sensitive. In today's current political
world everyone is focused on the 2016 presidential election. This election has the most media
attention in the history of the United States because liberals and conservatives are in complete

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contrast. Regardless of whom is in office after this election there will always be controversy
amongst liberal and conservative beliefs.

Check my markings. Remember mere


list of attributes does not
define. May be you might want to
use one central idea, say power,
and define how libs and
conservatives see power, how they
want it manifested within our
society, how they see their roles
within a political system in
defining the two monikers. Good
writing. Shall we talk?
B

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