Here is my understanding from a traditional standpoint:
Republican- little government regulation, big business
Democrats- More government regulation (always want some type of program), more anti big business
Ok...so the far right is fascism which is total regulation, and the far left is anarchy which is no regulation, seems backwards. If big business is more conservative, why is wall street mostly democratic? Same with other financial centers like California and Illinois. And if they are democratic, why would they want more regulation? Same thing with Hollywood and all of the unions. Is it they want more regulation, control, and power for themselves? If so this sounds more like fascism than total freedom, which I though liberal meant. I see in recent months all of the programs for wall street so that makes sense, but it still seems all backwards. There are a lot of competing values that you've thrown into one equation, and that might be part of your confusion.
For example, even though a majority of Republicans are conservative, there are many different conservative issues -- economics, national security, and social values. Not all Republicans are conservative on all three of those issues.
Furthermore, it would be erroneous to say that Wall Street is Democratic. The typical white collar business suits on Wall Street might break 60/40 for the Republican Party. But, that's only a few thousand people in New York. There are millions of immigrants, blacks, and lower income people (some of those groups overlap) that vote sometimes as much as 90/10 in favor of the Democrats.
Likewise, California and Illinois have huge urban populations that break largely Democratic. The "rich" suburban populations that break mildly for Republicans aren't as populous as the urban folks.
The people on Wall Street and the people attending conservative suburban churches often don't want more regulation, but the people inside the urban areas that feel justly or unjustly that they have been deprived by society in social or economic issues want the government to step in and regulate the forces that have injured them.
Unions are Democratic, so they want more regulations. They want the government to regulate business and working environments. But, again, we must consider that there are many sides to being conservative or liberal. Unions are economically liberal, but they're not socially liberal. Unions don't really need to take a position on social issues. But, a union's economic interests align with that of the Democratic Party.
Hollywood is usually liberal in every sense of the word. Economic liberalism (in the non-classical sense of the term) means more government regulation of business. That's what Hollywood wants. But, social liberalism means less government involvement in personal affairs.
I think that might be where you are confused. Someone who is an American liberal on all issues actually wants more regulation of the economy but less regulation of personal life. A conservative wants less regulation of the economy and more regulation of so-called traditional American values in their personal lives.
But, not everyone fits the mold of being absolutely conservative or absolutely liberal. A libertarian, for instance, doesn't want the government regulating the economy, personal life, or national security in a heavy-handed fashion. |
