Those Dang Labels

With the election only a few months away, I am reminded in my daily conversations with people how much I dislike the labels "liberal" and "conservative." "Liberals" seem proud to have this progressive and peaceful label applied to them while seeing the label "conservative" as a dirty word having connotations of archaic morals, and big, greedy capitalistic business. "Conservatives" on the other hand seem proud of sticking by good old-fashioned American values and personal freedom, while seeing liberalism as a few steps down the road to socialism.

These labels seem to be convenient little declarations when one doesn't want to explain oneself or when a particular label would be in one's best interest in a particular situation. I'm sure for a majority of Americans there are certain issues that one feels more conservatively on and others they feel more liberal on.

Rather than just labeling oneself or others in this way can't we just discuss the issues? For instance, what is the liberal way to go to war or the conservative way of providing health care? Is there a common denominator that all liberals share and another one that all conservatives share? If there is then maybe I'd feel more comfortable with these labels. Even if you think you know your party's stance, chances are that the people you'll be talking to from the other side will define it differently. I think we'd all respect each other a little better if we explained the reason for our stance on certain issues, or even why we vote for a certain party, rather than just using labels.