> _People who call themselves realists are often just dreamers who gottheir hearts broken somewhere along the way._
>
> -- [Ashley Stahl/TEDx talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRtBHF-WPpM)


@FailForward

>"People who call themselves realists are often just dreamers who gottheir hearts broken somewhere along the way."

This reminds me of another quote in a different context:

"Conservatives are liberals who've been mugged."

Usually said by conservatives who consider themselves to be realists.

@Pat Oooh, this wakes up so many thoughts. Very good shot there! Thanks!

I am sure this would instigate a "culture war", but I also truly believe that conservatism is primarily about fear.

Says somebody mostly voting for "center-right" in my geography 🙂

@FailForward

Conservatism is about fear of the future. Liberalism is about fear of the past.

@Pat

@freemo Well, we can argue about nitty-gritty semantics here, but I think you;ve got the definition "liberal" wrong. Liberal, in my book has not much to do with right vs. left. It rather is about _freedom_.

_Conservative_, in my world, has the opposite in _progressive_. Which to me screams "embrace the change", or "do what _currently_ is the right the to do". In other words, _don't be afraid to step into the future!_

@Pat

@FailForward

semantic arguments are boring. The definition of liberal you just gave I would call either classically liberal or libertarian. When I see liberal used on its own I see it as synonomous with the left and if a word is needed to be a bit more granular then liberal = neo-liberal.

That said semantics are stupid. Lets just replace the words I used with democrat and republican so there is no problem with quibbling over definitions.

@Pat

@freemo As I said, this leads nowhere. Whatever. I don't care much for US-centric definitions of political concepts. I live in EU and **gladly so**. I am more interested in the original dichotomy of realists vs. dreamers. 😉

@Pat