Conservatism vs. Liberalism vs. Socialism

• The definition of each of these political movements can be very different depending on the Country in which you reside. My comments will be based on the Canadian versions. In order to have some relevance to “we” boomers let us limit the examples to a period back to the 1950’s and up to the present day. At the beginning of the post war expansion of the economy I believe the following brief definitions capture the meanings of the three main political divisions in the Country. Conservatives believed in the right to own property, small government and low taxation, morality born out of religious roots and individual freedoms. Conservatives generally supported a strong military defence system. Liberals promoted a larger government role in society, higher taxation and spending on social programs, a more compassionate view of society with a belief that the loss of some rights is worthwhile if it improves society on the whole. Liberals, as a rule would vote for social spending over military spending. Socialism espoused large government and its control over the society’s natural resources and key industries. Individual rights are secondary to the good of the group or the community and the redistribution of wealth within society (take from those that have and give to those that don’t) is a prime doctrine. Socialists believe less in the military but do believe in the strong internal policing of its citizens. Today the Socialists after trying to move towards Liberalism over the past two decades seem to have returned to their roots as defined above and are the only party that tries to stay true to its base doctrine. The Liberals on the other hand have moved closer and closer to socialism and the Conservatives for the most part are today’s version of the 50’s Liberals. To illustrate this, consider the fact that Conservatives have presided over some of the largest tax increases in past years with the Federal GST and in Ontario the PST increases of the 80’s. The deficit under Mulroney’s (Conservative) watch was out of control. But even as revenues increased during the late 90’s because of a booming economy there were no tax cuts until Harper relented and dropped the GST by 2 points in 2007. The Liberals led by Chretien increased entitlements (EI) and raised taxes but when faced with a surplus did not return the money to the taxpayers but rather spent it on other social programs such as the gun registry which as everyone knows and (even liberals) will admit was a boondoggle. There was a short resurgence of Conservative values under Mike Harris in Ontario but the Unions and the liberal media fought it off and afterwards we actually re-elected a Liberal Premier that lied in public about not increasing taxes (amongst 30 or so other things). Today as our national Medicare program consumes more and more of the Country’s revenue while providing less and less service and quality to its citizens no political party will do what is necessary to fix it. Why, because it may allow those that can afford it to get quicker service and a better quality of health care. Better that everyone suffer with a shortage of doctors and long wait times for tests and treatments than try to improve a broken system. This is Socialism in its finest hour. After understanding the different directions politics have taken over the past 5 decades my next blog will focus on specific areas such as crime where the Canadian landscape has changed dramatically under the Liberal mentality.