Liberal Beliefs
The liberal belief system supports the position of the government in taking care of its citizens. It assumes the government’s overall mandate in taking care of its people (Andriyenko, 2018). From the social evils of racial discrimination, inequality to the marginalization of the inferior groups, the government had the utmost duty of alleviating these problems for its people. The state should protect individuals and their quest for civil liberation. Therefore, the liberals advocate for the government’s fundamental role and responsibility in sorting out societal needs (Andriyenko, 2018). Thus, no individual is left in a needy state, and all human rights are taken care of. This directive means that people can live free from the constant worries of life since the elected leaders in the public domain will be able to sort out their present and future problems. The democrats mostly propagate it.
Conservative Beliefs
Conservatives dwell on limited government intervention and the place of free markets (Andriyenko, 2018). These ideas negated the dominance and reliance of the people on their government. Hence, there is reduced government involvement in the affairs of its people. Consequently, this gives rise to the notion of individual liberty as persons can conduct their affairs without any fear of infringement from the government. Though this is unless their actions do not overstep the set rules and regulations, less one finds himself on the law’s wrong side. Conservatives also believe that the traditional American values should be upheld and given occasional national recognition (Andriyenko, 2018). This belief is intertwined with the pursuit of a strong national defense where all citizens had the mandate to protect national interests instead of leaving them to the state and federal government. The policies advanced by conservatives also emphasize that individuals should be exposed to the relevant tools and techniques in line with fostering individual liberty. Such provisions are essential in empowering them and equipping them with the right skills to solve their recurrent problems. Conservatism is mostly associated with the republicans.
Initial Argument In Support Of The Liberal Belief System
First of all, the government is non-existent without people. Essentially, it’s the people who come together and elect the government of the day to represent their societal interests. These interests include but are not limited to equality in resource distribution, better welfare services, provision of education, and protection of human rights. People’s needs, especially when it comes to trying to fulfill them, are normally out of the question. Regardless of the endless human wants and needs, people have put their faith in the day’s government to find solutions to their problems. The people have dedicated their resources to help the state develop its agenda that stands for the elevation of its citizens’ lives. Therefore, I am more than convinced that it should never be about the unobligated nature of persons in that country when the system fails. The blame should be on the day’s government because it has all the resources to make things work. Failure to call for action for those in leadership positions ultimately lies in the government of the day. I am more compelled to argue that since African Americans still endure the dark past of the slavery era and struggle with racial discrimination continually, the government is to blame.
Clearly, nothing ever happens in the territorial boundaries without the full knowledge of its intelligence system. Therefore, the fact that these social ills still travail up to date, the government should be the one to blame. It has all the machinery and equipment at its disposal to put an end to this social unrest. It is saddening that African Americans in this day and age still have to abandon their work stations and other important errands of nation-building to go to the streets and conduct rigorous demonstrations for days for the government to act on their pleas. Cases of racial discrimination should be handled with the same vigor as those of murder that require capital punishment.
Failures of the government automatically boil down to deplorable conditions for its people while the reverse is true. Therefore, it is only fair that the elite elected leaders act for their people’s common good. In so doing, it would narrow down to my support of the initial argument that the federal government should take a more active role in reducing unemployment, providing services for the poor, and improving blacks and other racial minorities’ socioeconomic position. Otherwise, the people will have no choice but to revolt and demand a total overhaul of the existing system to pave the way for a new one.
Historically, there have been individuals who have successfully demanded the government’s attention to address the social ills in American society. One such notable individual is William Walter. His opposition against racism started much earlier when he served as a Private in the United States Army. While there, he challenged the racial order in the military service. His sentiments appeared provocative, leading an overseeing officer to file for a court-martial against him (Chafuen, 2020). Regardless, he would not be found guilty, which pushed him to formulate a countercharge against that officer. Unfortunately, this courageous move against a higher-ranking white officer would see him transferred overseas. While there, he would write to the then United States President, John F. Kennedy, protesting the negative treatment that black people were forced to endure, yet they stood in service of their country’s interests.
William’s actions depicted an individual who was willing to go to all lengths to defend his position in the face of white supremacy and opposing forces in the United States system of governance. He expressed critical issues of oppression against the black community in the president’s administration’s limelight, yet no action was taken. Through his proponent views on free-market economics, Williams created a new thinking process for the African Americans, which contributed to the evolution of the blacks’ economic and political thought process development. According to William, the government championed the government on matters of minimum wage and affirmative action, whose intention was to regulate the Blacks’ economic activities. However, it only ended up depriving the inferior and the marginalized groups’ equal opportunities to their white counterparts. Moreover, these laws brought obstacles to African Americans’ economic progress compared to an equivalent effect of racism and discrimination. His argumentative answers on these issues were published in his book, The State Against Blacks (1982).
Another historical figure who was instrumental against the government digressing from its responsibilities and blaming its failure on other external factors was William Edward Burghard DuBois. His liberal beliefs pushed him to establish The Niagara Movement. He accomplished this with the help of his scholarly friends. He moved for the end of racial discrimination by drafting some of the government’s issues that needed to be addressed. He believed that most African Americans had given up in the fight for equality. They had been negatively influenced by slavery and settled for their current status in American society. Dubois’s wish was for African Americans to understand that political structure constructs the social rules that facilitate identifying the social phenomena. Ideally, he affirms that human beings are subject to secondary rhythm. Current political actors are encouraged to handle white supremacy in the United States since it might impose black emancipation in the long run. The contemporary black lives matter-wave recently highlighted the need to address political and systematic injustice in America. Failure to curb the issue might impose social conflict in the future as the African Americans sought their vengeance. Generally, uplifting and political expressive are some of the contemporary problems absorbed by the current political class and scholars.
Critical issues such as religion, economy, and welfare need a governmental framework that works. Otherwise, the public activists will give the state no peace by issuing them endless lawsuits on negligence and failure to stand up to prepare for disasters in these fields. Liberals support welfare to ensure the scarcity experience in some African American neighbors is taken care of. Such an action from the government ultimately encouraged fairness and equality. The liberals are more removed from the belief in religion by advocating for its separation from state affairs. Such an action upholds the independence of the state without reliance on the church.
Similarly, the government should protect small businesses from the exploitative and strict competitive nature of big firms. The government ensures that all players are on the same playing level. This measure is especially crucial to the survival chances of entrepreneurial ventures of the upcoming youthful generations. Ultimately, the government’s approach to these issues is through an eye and heart for the public interest.
In conclusion, the weight of development for African American society is heavily dependent on government agents’ positive response to streamline their activities. By ensuring a working system, the government can fully support the concepts of free markets, freedom of speech, and association, among other liberal ideologies.
Counter Argument in support of Conservative Beliefs
Even though most of the celebrated free thinkers who challenged the African Americans to stand up against racial violence on them and the foreshadowing legacy of slavery criticized the government, they also acknowledged the role that each individual also played in all this. By stating that white people cannot solve the problems faced by black people, he challenged the thought process of the young black generation to aim for positions of leadership to represent their people comprehensively (Chafuen, 2020). For example, William Walter’s criticism of the state also had a disclaimer that black families also needed to rise to the occasion and defend their positions. William’s proposition helped black people to relate to the true nature of their black identity. He pointed out that the destructive issues of racism facing the black people and the historical evils of legacy were much less than the social evils of poor welfare and even how the black families were disintegrated. Inequality and inadequate provision of basic human needs were more demeaning to any African American. These arguments were meant to challenge black families to settle on any governmental aid and scrutinize that help critically. His ideas are a call to action by every African American to fight for equal representation and freedom of association.
African Americans are charged to oppose these discriminatory laws that act to infringe on their lives’ privacy. In line with this heightened difference in opinion with the government, William supported the notion of free will in choosing to sell one’s personal belongings, the bodily organs included. In case the state was against this personal choice, it was overstepping on one’s property rights. However, regarding the gun control laws, William had an altercation with the reasoning brought forth by the government’s provisions. He seemed to dwell on the conservative side, which protected individuals’ right to own guns for self-protection. Nevertheless, these gun control measures have been contentious, with both sides of the belief downplaying the other’s views. Liberals feel such laws result in death for innocent people like children, whereas the conservatives argue based on more guns translated to fewer criminal cases.
WEB Dubois’s views on conservatism through the lens of his theories on double consciousness aim to instill a positive effect on African Americans’ mindset regardless of how their white counterparts viewed themselves. Dubois employs this term to explore this peculiar state that African Americas find themselves in and the specific tools they can use to elevate their circumstances. Because of their skin color, African Americans are unconsciously forced by their society to stick and continually live within their self attained definitions (Boxill, 2020). This condition happens while they still get to experience lots of opposition and hostility in their quest for freedom of expression and absolute enjoyment of equal rights like their white counterparts. Black people have been forced to live within the societal limitations and boundaries that are not only defined but controlled by white supremacy (Pittman, 2016). Attaining equality and even being accepted into these white-dominated societies is a struggle that never seems to end. Racism advanced by the white supremacist society seems to always have the upper hand in the self-actualization journey of the black man. The black person is left to gamble between loosely defined, undefined, and overlapping definitions about himself (Meer, 2018). Eventually, the black individual has no choice but to settle for these uniquely perceived positions. Though the government’s duty is that of its citizens, it becomes hard to reach everyone and comprehensively sort out all their problems, as the liberals would argue. So basically, the change process begins internally and professes outwards by an individual’s act of social responsibility. The argument is that charity begins at home, and essentially looking out for self required not much of a hustle than sitting down and waiting for the government to come and sort out your issues.
Even with nationwide campaigns to sensitize people and familiarize them with racial dynamics, positions, and tensions, the racial struggles of the black people are always lurking within. An African American still has to endure the self-perception imposed by the hostile white Americans while maintaining their convictions and beliefs. It is subjugating to struggle with the internal conflict of accepting yourself as an American with an additional negative clause that expounds your true American status as having your origins in Africa. Though this concept of double consciousness has helped to unravel the under-explored interracial dynamics in the United States, black people still have a long way to achieve full equality and citizenship. But generally, the validation process of double consciousness for a black individual occurs within their thought process (Boxill, 2020). The fight to be viewed differently by the outside
world is won by changing the lived experiences in the mindset of a black person. A black person can only elevate his status by oppressing the labels placed on them by the white mind. Suppressing these thoughts is always one of the major ways towards personal liberty.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the conservatives’ belief system is marred by the elevation of personal responsibility challenges the black people to change their thought process and start to look at themselves through the creator’s eyes and not settling into the world’s notions. Meaning, therefore, that every individual had to play their role in the country’s success story’s overall achievement. Each individual’s effort, when combined, should be enough to advance the prosperity of the entire community. On the other hand, the liberals prioritize the state’s position in achieving equality and an equal opportunity platform for its people. The argument put forth is that the government should be in the front line of tackling the problems experienced by its people. Both the liberals’ and conservatives’ views though divergent, but when analyzed from a moderate position, would suggest a consensus of some kind. But in any case, it’s either you are a democrat or a republican.
References
Andriyenko, O., 2018. LIBERALISM AND CONSERVATISM AS THE WORLD POLITICAL TRENDS: THE HISTORICAL ASPECT. INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN MODERN SCIENCE, 5(24).
Boxill, B. R. (2020). W.E.B. Dubois and William James on double consciousness. Journal of Social Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.12329
Chafuen, A. (2020, December 2). Walter E. Williams (1936-2020): His Legacy In The Think Tank World.Forbes.https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrochafuen/2020/12/04/walter-e-williams-1936-2020-his-legacy-in-the-think-tank-world/?sh=6a0ac6ec20e7
Meer, N. (2018, April 19). W. E. B. Du Bois, double consciousness and the ‘spirit’ of recognition – Nasar meer, 2019. SAGE Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0038026118765370
Pittman, J. (2016, March 21). Double consciousness (Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/double-consciousness/
