Conservative idea of freedom vs liberal idea of freedom

[lostnfound]

The conservative view of freedom has been conveyed to the public very effectively in the last couple of decades; it needs to be deconstructed and challenged, but also transmuted into acceptable forms which can be absorbed by the left.

Conservatives ... liberals ... progressives ... libertarians all have their own model of freedom they espouse.

Some thoughts that come to mind:

conservatives care about these:
*freedom from government regulations
*freedom to accumulate much wealth and do with it as they please
*freedom to discriminate (be racist homophobic swine?
*freedom to say Christian prayers in public schools out loud
*freedom to tax and spend on missiles & bombs but little else
*freedom to pass all of their assets on to their children
*freedom to pollute
*freedom to set standards of morality for others
*freedom to own guns of all kinds
*corporate freedoms of all kinds

I would also note that many conservatives see no moral implications to wealth and business, or if they do, they put them in a category of 'optional morality' as opposed to the types of morality that they want to dictate by law.

liberals care about these:
*freedom to use the power of government to equalize, clean up, improve the lot of the disadvantaged -- to try to create a better society
*freedom for the individual in personal actions, speech, and behavior, except ... ? to pollute, discriminate, own guns?, own too much or control too much ?
*freedom AND opportunity/provisions for the individual to be educated, rehabilitated, supported etc. according to their needs

Just a starting point, but I'm interested in what others here might think.

[FDRrocks]

1. I generally break it down...

The base conservatives seems to think the epitome of being free is not having thier money taxed. That seems to be the winning issue for them. I guess alot of conservatives don't believe in society or the social contract, but love to benefit from it. Also, this is why you see initiatives agaist the Patriot Act coming from the left and center, but seldom (if ever?) from the right. A fraction of the right also seems to believe that no one can be free until we are pronounced a christian nation and start down the path to the American Inquisition. They will falsify thier evidence to meet thier own demands, and, with fanatical passion, argue that we have gone astray from our founding fathers by remaining secular. They also have fooled thier base into loving a welfare-for-the-rich/regressive tax system, which is mind boggling.

Liberals seem to adhere to the social contract, generally. Taxes are neccesitated by the society we live in, and a progressive system is good b/c you give to society in general porportion to how much you benefit from the infrastructure. The state should remain secular, you should have freedom of "______", and the government should not be able to suspend habeus corpus among other things. Government should regulate utilities and the market, etc...