An Analytical Paradox...Or the Absurdity of Labels?

Are liberals who are worried about maintaining their ideology without allowing it to evolve or change really conservative?  Are conservatives who wish others would be more open and liberal towards their ideas really, well, liberal?  Could it be possible that ALL of us (gasp), are both conservative and liberal at the same time?  Or could it be possible that labels serve more to distract than to delineate?  Do letters after names really illuminate the vastness of the complex and unique character of the individual whose name precedes that R or D?  Republicans, democrats...liberals, conservatives....  A classical liberal is really, in today's political world, a conservative.  In other countries, the liberal named or classified parties mirror the American Republican platform.  So isn't it more productive and worthwhile when judging an individual to approach our understanding to them as we would a complete stranger recently moved into the neighborhood?  Assessing the qualities and character of an individual should be based on their own actions and words, not those of others we would naively and ignorantly lump into the same category as them simply because the label we give them happens to be shared by someone else.