Depends where you are.

neither, in and of themselves. but the right wing in america has spent the past few decades demonizing the word "liberal" to the point where it cannot be pronounced without a contempt-filled sneer.

I agree with Lithium86. For instance, I live in Massachusetts, in a fairly liberal suburb of Boston, so people around me tend to give 'conservative' a more negative connotation.

Meh, they're both trying to tell you how to live.

Being conservative traditionally means "wanting to keep things as they are". I'm in favor of progress.

That's the exact meaning of it, AndresH. Conserving how things are.

Conservatism: a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, stressing established institutions and prefering gradual development to abrupt change.

Liberalism: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties.

Both have thier good and bad points. I wouldnt say one is more negative than the other.

TX4me - Nicely defined. I think the people who use the words "right wing", "extreme right" etc. to define conservatives and likewise those who use "lefty" etc. to define liberals cause the misconception that either philosophy is totally negative. There are good components to both and some overlap of ideas.

probably about equal around the world.

I agree with those who say it depends. In my close circle of friends conservative tends to have bad connotations. However, when I'm at home in Nashville, liberal generally tends to have bad connotations. One of my uncles always jokes that I'm going out to the "left coast" whenever I go back to school.

I think it depends who you ask: A liberal would be more likely to say "conservative" has a negative connotation, and a conservative would say "liberal" has a negative connotation. lol

i agree with ivoryticler. it depends on who you ask. everything's not always black or white, quite a bit of it is gray.

I'd say the only political ideologies that have truly negative connotations, in our mainstream society, are communism and anarchy.

Here in sunny Califunny, it's generally conversative, but I think it just depends on who you talk to.

How about nazis, jimmy?

Btw, the U.S. usage of the words "conservative" and "liberal" differs somewhat from that of the rest of the world. If we had something like the Democratic Party here in Europe, it would still be termed "right-wing" or maybe even "extremely right-wing".
Still, Europeans tend to be in favor of the American Democrats, just as we rather support the Iranian President Khatami (who is a "liberal" in his country) than his opponents, the old bearded religious fanatics who actually run things down there.

Depends on whether you are liberal or conservative...

Sander is right. The democrats would be considered tories here. The republican would a bit more right wing.

Why can't we all just get along?????

Conservative, because of the evil.

"Why can't we all just get along?????"

where's the fun in that?

"Why can't we all just get along?????"

Because if conservatives ran the world, there wouldn't be many of us left to get on with.

In Canada its conservative. Note to any foreign conservatives out there, unless you go to Alberta, don't let anyone know your views! lol.

Personally, it's liberal. They're scary.

^^ Because we actually care about our species?

Depends on what area of the country you're in or who you're asking. For me, as a conservative in the "Bible Belt," it's of course going to be liberals. This question could go either way depending on the person.