THERE ARE MANY differences between liberals and conservatives, but I think the most striking lies in their respective definitions of freedom.

I've posted on this topic before, tracing the distinction through various issues, but the bottom line is something like this:

Liberals view freedom as the ability of the individual to live her or his life the way he or she chooses, without coercion from others, and without infringing on the right of others to do the same.

Conservatives view freedom as the ability of individuals or groups to coerce others without government interference.

Think about it.

Liberals think gays should be allowed to serve their country, marry, work, and live like any other citizen—conservatives think homophobes ought to be free to limit each of those freedoms for gays.

Liberals think children should be free to pray or not pray in public schools—conservatives think teachers should be free to impose prayer on children in public schools.

Liberals think women should be free to make their own decisions about their health and childbearing—conservatives think religions should be free to impose their views on women.

Liberals think everyone should be free to choose and exercise their own religion: building churches, holding services, etc.—conservatives think they ought to be free to stop Muslims from doing the same things.

Liberals think all races should be free to work and live and vote and trade alike—conservatives think that some races should be free to deny those rights to others.

In each case, liberals have backed the freedom of the individual while conservatives have backed the freedom to coerce the individual.

And this isn't just political spin.

Conservatives themselves make their case in just these terms.

They have argued that gay marriage is a violation of their freedom to live in a heterosexual only world, that the government stopping teachers from imposing prayer is a violation of the freedom of religion, that civil rights are a violation of the rights of people who don't want to rent to, live next to, or give service to those of another race.

So, when it comes down to the government's role:

Liberals see the government's role as guaranteeing that people do not infringe on each other's freedom.

Conservatives see any government role as a threat to their freedom to infringe.

And so, now that the issue of net neutrality has surfaced, we should not be surprised at their relative positions.

I won't go into the details of the current position of the FCC.

It's enough for our present purposes to note that, on the one hand, it limits your phone or cable company's ability to control what you get to see on the internet.

On the other hand, it doesn't limit it completely.

So, of course, the conservative cry of outrage has risen against the government's "brazen effort to regulate the internet".

On the other hand, liberals tend to think that the FCC isn't going far enough.

You can decide for yourself what you mean by freedom in this case:

the freedom to decide for yourself what you'll see and do over the internet, or

the freedom of your provider to decide for you.

Whichever you decide, though, it's important to be clear what different politicians mean when they use the word "freedom".

At least, that's what I think today.