What are some major similarities between the political expressions of conservatives and liberals?

The
answer to this question really hinges on what we mean by "conservative" and
"liberal" (particularly the latter). Other responses have noted some of the
similarities between modern right-wing and left-wing political parties, but it's also important
to note the historical meaning of liberalism. This "classical" liberalism developed in
the 18th and 19th centuries, drawing on works like John Locke's Two Treatises of
Government and Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. Broadly
speaking, liberalism promoted ideas like social progress through science and rational thought,
respect for individual liberties, and the superiority of free-market or capitalist economies.


For the classical liberal, these ideas are all interrelated: humans are by
nature guided by rational self-interest, and the intersection of individual interests in the
free market is what drives economic growth and innovation (which in turn benefits society as a
whole). Likewise, democracies that drew inspiration from thinkers like...