Liberals or conservatives are only as useful as the discourse they are able to to achieve to find common ground. The real goal is truth and the moving target of truth can only be struck by open dialogue. Conservatives value order and conscientiousness. Liberals value openness and compassion. Neither side has a balanced view of the whole, but each must live true to their interior motivations. If they are respectful of each other they can find that compromise. In the current political climate, we have a polarization of beliefs, where nobody is willing to meet in the middle ground. Each is ruled by ideology and ideology will always be a dangerous abstraction and simplification of what is true. The truth for us, as fallible human beings, will always be what is 'true enough' for us to live together in harmony. Not some absolute truth imposed through the force of ideology.