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There are several things you must know before making any about which party is better for you.

1. The founding fathers of our country were not quite sure if they could “trust the masses.” That is why we have the Electoral College when voting for the president. Before the 17^th amendment of the Constitution was passed and ratified in 1913, state legislators elected members of the Senate. Before our Constitution, a voter had to be a landowner to vote. Our history has always had a thread of restricting voting and conservativism.
2. I looked for a definition of conservatism that wasn’t book-length like several of George Will’s attempts at defining conservatism. Still, I did not like the short dictionary definition of conservatism. I found a rather good discussion of conservatism online at this website https://cleantechnica.com/2020/02/13/what-is-a-conservative-the-answer-may-surprise-you/. As you can see and as the article says, “…several of the items on that list are mutually exclusive or contradictory.” This seems to be true of any political movement. However, the article’s first of the 21 definitions of conservativism is “An aversion to rapid change,” which is at the heart of this political philosophy.

It would not be fair if we also did not try to find a definition for liberalism. Like conservatism, liberalism has been defined in books. Also, the short dictionary definition is not satisfying. If you want a more thorough explanation of liberalism, the Wikipedia article is good if you follow all the hyperlinks. I did find a rather good discussion of liberalism on this website, https://www.studysmarter.us/explanations/politics/political-ideology/liberalism.

In attempting to define our two major political parties, people also describe them as right or left-wing politics. A right-wing political party “… is generally synonymous with politically conservative beliefs.” In our country, it would be the Republican Party. Left-wing is defined by Wikipedia as “Left–wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in society whom its adherents perceive as disadvantaged relative to others, as well as a belief that there are unjustified inequalities that need to be reduced or abolished.” This is why the Democratic Party is defined as left-wing because it has supported things ranging from Social Security to LGBTQ rights.

Now that you have a bit of history and definitions of our two main political parties, you can make an informed decision about which party fits your philosophy of life. Both parties frequently lie about their fundamental beliefs for reasons I don’t understand. I will post today a single question that will aid you in deciding which party to support. If you have questions, please ask them on the form at the bottom of the page or privately via email at vcangell at gmail.com.