Labels

Why do we feel it necessary to label views as liberal or conservative? Is it helpful to our understanding of those views or the people who hold them, or is it detrimental?

Views that seem more open to change can be characterized as liberal, and those more rooted in tradition can be called conservative, but those labels don’t always make sense. For example, isn’t it now considered more conservative to deregulate the banking industry or allow for the creation of new and more complex derivatives with less government oversight? That approach could have been characterized as liberal historically because of its openness to change and view that the traditional government regulatory role is a barrier to innovation. Modernly, describing regulation of the banking industry as liberal or conservative seems like it would hamper discussion of the real issues.

What about reproduction? Is it conservative to call for more government regulation of contraceptives and abortion? Why should regulation here be viewed opposite of the case in the banking industry? It could be because these are considered moral issues, but lending money at usurious interest rates has often been considered a moral issue. Why shouldn’t that be regulated? The government might have a more direct interest and influence on the banking practices that it considers immoral than on the reproductive practices that it considers immoral.

If labels are not always helpful in labeling viewpoints, are they even less helpful for labeling people? If a person believes in more banking regulation but is against abortion, is that person a liberal or a conservative? Can we get away from the tendency to put people into one of these two giant boxes?