Government Values

Conversations that revolve around government and politics, just like religion, can be very touchy and emotional regardless of which side of the spectrum you may be on. They involve discussing one’s private feelings, beliefs and ideas which tend to be held very close to their heart because it is what they truly believe in and live by.

Values can be an individual idea, belief, or principle which shapes the opinion of a person or community. They are more of a way to do something rather than the outcome itself. Loyalty, honesty, and respect are all values that can apply to any political party and most will recognize their importance. More specific values can be shared between people with like-minded political, economic, social and behavioral views.

They believe in personal responsibility and intend for an equal playing field, but the outcome should lie in one’s actions and earn rather than being taken care of solely by the government. They think that economic freedom is more important than social freedom. In a conservative mindset, the best benefit for society is the government providing the opportunity for everyone to pursue their individual goals and contribute to the best of their ability, not just handing out privileges. This side also tends to be more resistant to change and usually goes with the status quo, not wanting to make any changes to the constitution and how the founding fathers wanted America to be. They also value a high amount of national security in addition to civil liberties and like the idea of a big strong

They want the least amount of government control possible and are highly in favor of free markets, advocating for both personal and economic liberty. They don’t like government regulation of business and hope to eliminate, or at least lower taxes. Libertarians believe that each and every individual of any background regardless of race, class, or socioeconomic position should have the opportunity to make their own choices in life as long as they don’t infringe on another’s rights. They strongly believe in liberty and like to follow the saying “live and let live”. Libertarians are also considerably more sympathetic to “new” individual rights such as abortion, same- sex marriage, and use of marijuana [..., as well as finding a] more supportive of a way for illegal immigrants to earn citizenship ” (Keckler). It can be easy to confuse libertarians with liberals because they both want a lot of freedom, however, the difference is that liberals want to secure their freedom through the government while libertarians want their freedom without any government