Compare & Contrast Modern Conservatism and Modern liberalism Essay

Compare & Contrast Modern Conservatism and Modern liberalism - Essay Example In this discussion of the idea of liberty it must be understood, then that the Constitution is a contractual tradition that is used in order to define how liberty can be expressed, which might be considered a contradiction. However, when examining the Constitution, it is based on defining how each person cannot impede the will on another and what constitutes an infringement that has surpassed the rights of the individual and imposes on the next. It is a difficult and sometimes indistinct structure of what impedes the individual to express their freedom and what is the imposition of the individual of another to express their won liberty. Conservatism traditionally means that there is an adherence to morality that is founded in a respect for authority. A conservative wanted to maintain the status quo with a rejection of things that were either modern or secular (PPT Classical Conservatism 1). Current conservative beliefs are at their core not much different than this with the resistance to science and to secularized governmental separation. The current conservatives seem to desire to assert morality as an absolute over the beliefs of all people rather than allowing for the differences that emerge in a diverse society. One tenet of classical conservatism that seems to have changed is the idea that society is in need of restraints (PPT Classical Conservatism 2).... Where classical conservatism once believed that human nature was essential wicked and needed to be held to a high morality, contemporary conservatism believes that there should be less government. The government should remain out of the business of creating regulatory constraints on behavior because the economic system will naturally weed out what is and is not appropriate for society. Free enterprise should be specifically free in order to gain its goals without having to comply with rules that govern its morality. Change is also resisted by conservatives both classical and contemporary. In resisting change, the status of the current society is maintained and the theory that if something is not broken it should not be tampered with is in full swing for conservatives (Guide 41). The belief that the moral high ground is established by the continuation of a system in which some are benefited, usually those that are conservative, is the foundation for the resistance that exists in the c onservative political belief system. The system that emerges over time will tend to favor the elite of a society because for a time it will go unchecked as it continues to have the appearance of working. An example is the deregulation of the mortgage system that was well predicted to be a bad idea, but in the end the system broke rather than being changed to be more effective. The reason for this is that it was making money. When it comes down to it, the ‘morality’ of a system and the resistance to change comes from a belief that as long as it can be exploited it should not change. In contrast to the belief that morality should be imposed and that constraints on human nature