Most political parties, particularly in the developed world are guided by ideologies which reflect their outlook on how the society should be socially, economically and politically organized. These sets of beliefs are essential in drawing support from the voters that can easily identify the best policies worth supporting. Because of the desire to win the support of many voters, propaganda becomes an essential tool in misinforming, deforming and magnifying various aspects of reality. Developed nations in the world like the United States, United Kingdom, France and Canada have well-defined ideologies that guide the political parties, unlike in third world nations where support is mostly on the basis of ethnicity, religious affiliations and other unreliable pillars in spurring economic development. In Canada, liberalism and conservatism are driven certain values that help to understand human nature and how the society should be organized to maximize the benefits of social contract.
First Claim
The Liberal Party lays more emphasis on the need to respect human dignity because the condition guarantees a reasonable basis upon which other democratic values can be founded. Principle values behind the political ideology underscore the importance of creating a conducive political environment where reason can thrive, starting at the individual level. It, therefore, turns out that an individual is greater than the society because of the role played by the constituent elements. Most of the campaigns party based Agendas for the Liberal Party are anchored on the idea that the dignity of every Canadian form the basis of promoting democracy in the society. All other activities are guided by this tenet, which makes it possible to differentiate between the party and others such as the Conservative and the Green Party. To form a just society, individual freedom should be nurtured to promote dignity and responsibility. The party further emphasizes on the need to have a system that makes people free to participate in associations of other like-minded individuals.
The emphasis on dignity makes it possible for people to have freedom and further encourage the development of rational ideas. Without reason, it would be impossible to understand the laws of nature and the physical nature, two elements that are vital in the realization of eudemonia or the happiness in life. Human choices and goals of satisfaction are all geared towards the constant realization of real happiness. The individual reason is therefore supposed to quickly figure out the best desires to pursue, which ones to ignore and whenever possible, use elements of nature and habituation to cultivate new desires. The view on happiness and how it is promoted proves that the mastery of nature and its subjugation promotes human purposes.
Knowledge is further an essential pillar in the maximization of rational goals aimed at triggering happiness and progress. Without pursuing knowledge, it becomes impossible to subjugate nature for the benefits of human purpose. Therefore the position becomes vital in the explanation of underdevelopment which is directly related to unhappiness. The Liberal Party’s ideology, therefore, aims at addressing these challenges through the emphasis on education which is believed to be a public and universal provision in rooting out ignorance from the society. All these liberal viewpoints anchored on the belief of the rational self proves that external powers coming from institutions like the society, the church, and the state should not be highly relied upon in defining social order. Personal happiness, therefore, comes first because the heavy reliance on external powers is the root of immoral actions and behaviors such as greed, corruption, and impunity because absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Liberalism aims at promoting national values through the emphasis on the individual. To achieve the goal, the officials show a total dedication to democratic practices such as giving citizens a chance to access records and information regarding the rationality of the policies formulated. The public is also at a position to suggest and make amendments to the existing policies to facilitate social, economic and cultural development for the whole of the Canadian society. When in leadership, the Liberal Party has succeeded in making significant changes in the democratic structure from which people can freely participate in discussions, dialogue, and access information whenever they wish to assess the government’s performance.
A conservatism perspective rejects the position that the trust on human reason should be used in pursuit of self-interests, Conservative Party takes a different approach and emphasizes on the need to have a well-functioning society which shapes the members' ideas and ideals. Joseph de Maistre made a significant contribution towards influencing followers by arguing that there have never been ‘men’ in history because of the weaknesses in reason by the Italians, Frenchmen, Russians, American among other cultures. Finding the meaning of the universe should therefore not be achieved through reliance on human existence and their rational thoughts on pertinent matters. Conservatism’ tenets, therefore, rule out the possibility that humans can be authors of the universe because they give the world no meaning. A comparative analysis of these contrary liberalists and conservative positions reveals that the latter is compelling, with the society preceding the individual in the formulation of a sound nation that has the interests of all citizens. However, it should be noted that the best analysis of any functional unit is based on the components making up the whole. Therefore, the conceptualization of the individual concept because more critical.
Liberals further believe that although the society is important and natural, it is second in the order of importance after the individual. The position can be expounded to explain the reason why individuals should be free to pursue the goals of economic determinism with minimal interference and control from the government. Too much control from institutions of authority can infringe on the rights of the subjects and therefore better to leave people to pursue their self-interests. Each generation should, therefore, be free to determine their destiny without any form of constraints, either institutional or historical.
The Conservative Party believe that people can only build their lives if they are in a strong society where all communities get a chance to build on their lives. A good society is also the one that is aware of the surroundings and thus carefully to avoid destroying the beauty of the environment. In the party’s approach to fighting inequality and poverty, free trade is underscored as well as the increase in the international financial aid. Governments under the Conservative Party has ensured that the government is closer to the society instead of running away from its challenges.
While the two positions taken have truths in them, the conservative perspective is more compelling because left of their own without regulations from the society, egoistic values drive human beings in the achievement of set goals. The conservative perspective on this claim is more comprehensive and ensures that as long as reason is important in the establishment of societies, it must be within the confines of agreed societal norms to minimize chances of conflicting interests and to act in a greedy manner. The compelling positions under conservatism can be used to explain the shift of support from the Liberal Party to the NDP and Conservative Party.
Second Claim
Liberal Political Party is determined and highly committed to the pursuit of equality for all citizens. The position is supported by liberalist’s perspective on the need to promote a fair platform upon which all citizens can pursue their goals. The attainment of the happiness is through the equality and freedom guaranteed by nature which should be used to convert opportunities through own means. External entities like the State and other institutions should not be blamed if eudemonia is unrealistic because individuals ought to be masters of their destiny.
Conservatism does not believe equality can be achieved although it is good to be sought. Emphasis on the equality for departure rather than the outcome makes the liberal perspective addresses the major weakness of attempting the level the society and ensure all human beings are the same in terms of economic, social and political achievements. Taking the concept of equality to matters of property ownership would have resulted in a highly conflictual state where the hardworking citizens are treated unfairly with their achievements being shared among all members in a given society. The disaffection of the Conservative Party on the idea of equality is anchored on the belief that a divergent and multicultural society is better because it provides varying needs that cannot be achieved if all people are the same.
The idea that individuals have themselves to blame for the failures in life is sound is the government had provided a conducive environment where citizens can maximize their potential. In an attempt to restore equality in the society, The Liberal Party of Canada has been pushing for measures aimed at making every citizen capable of reaping maximum benefits from the government. The barriers between these people and the access to equal opportunities have made the Liberal party look for various mechanisms that can be used to create a fair platform. A focus is also placed on income, discriminations by employers and insurers as well as favoritism in the access to justice.
Although this conservative approach is compelling, the liberal viewpoint is better and creates room for constructive individualism which appreciated the dignity of others in a given system. The idea that people are the master of their destiny is to help solve most of the problems that we encounter in an attempt to reap off the benefits of the wealthy people who have acquired their wealth in a lawful manner. Conservative institutions emphasize the need to have diverse social groups, but in reality, liberalism does not discourage this aspect provided that human dignity is guaranteed and there is equality in the take-off process without any forms of favoritism.
The equality of all citizens, proposed by the liberals leads to the accumulation of wealth and property that requires security coming from the state. From this argument, it turns out that liberals need minimal government interference on the individual activities. Liberals, therefore, appreciated that although there can be a fair competing ground, there are certain individuals that are driven by envy, jealousy and greed and whenever granted a chance, they will use their ignorance to steal from the hardworking and legally wealthy citizens. Whenever individuals unite and form contracts, the ignorance that was not addressed in some people through education evolve and support fraudulent activities especially where there are financial processes and activities. Once the State has effectively played its role in the protection of individual property, it becomes easier to spur economic development which plays a significant role in the promotion of social programs and the redistribution of wealth to all citizens. It, therefore, becomes possible to prevent revolutions and other forms of insurgencies because all subjects feel appreciated and well protected in the existing order.
While liberals believe that the government should only be involved in the protection of property rights, conservatives require the institution to play more varied roles, especially on the social discipline realm. The behavior of all people is supposed to be within the confines of the traditional order of things. For example, there should be rules aimed at protecting sacrosanct institutions like marriages and whenever possible, enact laws aimed at guaranteeing the sustainability of the entity. Liberals consider these involvements as being unnecessary and that the most critical aspect is guaranteeing the equality of all citizens from where other important aspects of life emanate from in an attempt to subjugate nature and attain happiness.
Conclusively, political parties, either aligned to liberalism, conservatism or any other ideology, have a set of beliefs upon which guidelines are drawn on how to organize the society in the political, economic and social spheres. Liberalism emphasizes human dignity, equality, and less government involvement in the affairs of the citizens. These positions are different from a conservative perspective that extends the involvement of government to social issues and rules out the emphasis on equality because diversity is considered more important. The varying positions on ideologies help to formulate long-term support regardless of the people holding leadership positions in the parties.
