Mover Mike

I guess some more terms need to be defined, terms that I throw about, assuming we all agree on definitions. There can hardly be logical discourse, if terms mean different things to different people. Eric of Eric's Grumbles Before the Grave cautioned me not to use liberal for the people who inhabit the left side of the aisle. He says:

I refuse to use the word liberal to describe the left wing tradition you talk about.

After reading F.A Hayek, Why I Am Not a Conservative, as he suggested, I understand why he says

...the statists, aided and abetted by conservatives who wish to use government to guide society in the "right direction" (emphasis added)

Wikipedia defines Socialism as

an ideology with the core belief that a society should exist in which popular collectives control the means of power, and therefore the means of production. In application, however, the de facto meaning of socialism has evolved and branched to a great degree, and though highly politicized, is strongly related to the establishment of an organized working class, created through either revolution or social evolution, with the purpose of building a classless society. It has also, increasingly, become concentrated on social reforms within modern democracies.

Obviously, there is a problem using the word "socialist" to describe the left. Not all who I would label socialists would agree with all that's in the definition. However, I do believe they have a high regard for government involvement in bringing about social reform. They have a high confidence in government as a solution provider.

I am not ready to tackle a definition of conservatism in this post.

For years I have considered myself to be a "conservative" without really defining the word. I chose the word reflexivly as an alternative to the party called Democrats, and yet as both parties have changed over time, what was once socialist is now conservative. This country has drifted to bigger government as the solution and I have no home in either major party. I have only frustration that votes from like-minded people don't change the direction of the drift.