Solar Sailing

[A Black Falcon]

This is true, but I know you're saying this and implying that liberals do not. I'm shifting, gradually, closer to a true neutral political philosophy anyway. There are a lot of beliefs conservatives view that I no longer believe.

I think any cursory comparison of the Democratic and Republican parties would show that, at least in their American incarnation, liberals are not like that, while conservatives are.

Now, it probably is true that as either side gets closer towards its edges this kind of thing gets more common; Soviet-style "liberalism" certainly didn't allow for any dissent within the party. The American Democratic party, however, is a true "big tent" party, with many different constituencies within it. On every major issue it is usually very difficult to get most of the Democrats to vote for the bill, because each group makes up its own mind about what it wants. The Democrats have a more populist form of presidential selection too, as we saw with Obama (where, had the Democrats used the system the Republicans or the Electoral College did, Hillary would probably be president now; Obama won because the Democrats tried to make things more even some years back).

In comparison, the American Republican Party is absolute -- you either vote their way, or you vote their way. Republicans almost always vote in unison on every significant issue. This is very, VERY different from the Democratic party. The Democrats believe, probably to a fault, that everybody's view is important and relevant, and that you should not just tell everybody what to believe and expect them to follow it...

I, at least, think the contrast is clear. :)