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Difference Between Conservatism And Liberalism

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INTRODUCTION
The term liberalism has a variety of meanings nowadays. Freedom or liberty for each and every individual is the main aim of the philosophy of liberalism. Freedom had different concepts in different periods of time in the history and therefore the programs of liberalism were also different in those time periods. However the main aim always remained the same. Liberalism not only believed in human nature was good but it also believed that humans were rational. It supposes that, as people have a logical intellect, they have the ability to identify different challenges and problems and solve them. This will thus improve the human condition systematically. Conservatism, on the other hand, is the opposite doctrine of liberalism. Conservatism, simply we can say that, supports the preservation of the status quo.
Hence we can see that liberalism is a worldview founded on the ideas of liberty and equality. Liberals generally believe in free and fair elections, freedom of press, freedom of religion, private property and civil right.
Liberalism first developed in the western world. It became famous among philosophers and economists during the era of Enlightenment. At that point of time absolute monarchy, state religion and hereditary privilege was the prevailing system. …show more content…

In International Relations that era is normally referred to as Idealism. With the birth of United Nations Organization, liberalism once again gained momentum. But later with the start of cold war power politics the rays of hope also seemed to fade away. Then when the cold war ended the hopes for liberalism also emerged back. Liberal intellectuals made many justifications as to why liberalism should be the supreme over other competing ideologies. Liberals are generally very much optimistic therefore liberalism is generally described in literature as the ‘tradition of

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