Differences Between Liberalism and Conservatism
To better understand why liberalism is corrupt, one must familiarize themselves with the differences between liberalism and conservatism. These are two of the most popular ideologies that Americans hold and one, liberalism, is a constant source of corruption.
Liberalism primarily believes in protecting individual rights by having a large government to ensure equality. However, they also hold the belief that even though police, government officials, and politicians work towards a better America, sometimes they can pose a threat to individual rights. The equality of opportunity and protection of life, liberty, and property are highly emphasized principles of liberalism. Liberalism also tends to sway towards quickly accepting new ideas. The ideology was primarily founded by John Locke (1632-1704) and then added on to by Adam Smith (1723-1790). John Locke came up with a theory of governmental authority in which a focus on individual rights is highly prioritized. Later, Adam Smith argued that communities where individuals are free to pursue their own interests inside of an economy that is not entirely controlled by either private monopolies or the government is the most productive. Over the years, liberalism adapted to conform with modern society and these new additions caused modern liberalism. These new additions were added to the previously mentioned core values. One of the new main ideas that was added was that not only can government pose a threat to individual rights but so can private industry. They believe that in order to have true equality and rights, the government must have checks and balances as well as regulations on private industries. Today, liberalism is closely associated with the Democratic Party.
Conservatives believe that the government should serve the people and not command them. They also believe in having a smaller government with less regulations on private business to increase the production rate and individual freedoms. Conservatives are typically cautious when it comes to new ideas and generally stick to traditional values. This term traces its roots back to the French Revolution where the ideas and core principles first began to become popular. Conservatism is closely affiliated with the Republican Party.
Today, about 25% of the American population considers themselves liberal while about 36% consider themselves conservative. These statistics were part of a poll taken by gallup.com in 2017.
To conclude, the two ideologies hold vastly different viewpoints and tendencies when it comes to modern subjects and conservatism holds more support with a lead of about 11%.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/liberalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/08/13/the-meaning-of-conservatism
https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_conservatism.html
https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_conservatism.html
https://news.gallup.com/poll/201152/conservative-liberal-gap-continues-narrow-tuesday.aspx
Liberal Corruption 