Conservative Principles Vs. Progressive Principles

I came across a lovely post about the differences between the worldview of government based on conservative principles vs. progressive principles:

#1 Social Justice



A primary goal of progressive policies is to guarantee social justice, which can be generally defined as treating everyone equally well, and correcting “the system” to ensure that equality. Basically, an individual is not responsible for his/her relative position economically, and to assert as much is to “blame the victim.” As such, the function of social justice is to blame the system and those who control it (source).


Examples: Abiding by this principle, progressives work to eliminate concentrations of wealth and power in society, and believe that government should regulate economic activity to promote the common good. This is demonstrated in policy by a wealth redistribution plan that takes a larger percent of taxes from wealthy individuals, and spreads the wealth to lower income citizens through a variety of welfare programs. Social justice is also a factor in progressive policies that encourage open borders and illegal immigration (since, for example, Mexicans can't control where they're born) as well as support for things like slavery reparations.


The Conservative View: Conservatives, in contrast, are not big believers in social justice. We believe that principles like equal opportunity and individual responsibility are sufficient to level the economic and social playing fields. These principles conflict with the concept of social justice because they don’t assume problems are systemic, and they don’t presume that government can guarantee equality.



Read the rest here.  It is well worth your time.