Only a Difference in Details?

Do you ever wonder why politics is so partisan if everyone has our best interests in mind? It has everything to do with how you arrive at a given point. All ideologies even extreme ones like Fascism or Communism and maybe Libertarianism promise a better existence. The worst require a complete reset what can be considered normal moral and ethical values or a return to some unworkable or idealized past. Conservatism, Liberalism and Democratic Socialism occupy the main stream and make the offer of a better life without a massive overhaul of our present system.
I will place liberals in the centre, the conservatives to the right and socialists to the left. In their modern form there is a moderate amount of overlap. We really don't have much of a difference in political and social values. The mainstream political ideologies all support the major rights like free speech, freedom of the press, freedom from discrimination and universal suffrage. Sure as you get to the fringes the voices are more shrill but recent history suggest that parties play to this base but will not legislate for them. It is fair to say that we have settled the big questions concerning the rights of citizens that had been in play for the past two centuries. Liberals and conservatives of the eighteenth and nineteenth century would barely resemble those of today. The only traits that have carried forward are evident in their names. Conservative seek to restrain change to a manageable amount and preserve the social order. Liberals are more inclined to work with and encourage change. Socialism is a new comer to the scene and shares with Liberalism the ideas of social reform but differ on issues of economics.
This brings us to the point of divergence. The point of how we get from there to here.
If conservatives have grudgingly given way on rights issues, they remain steadfast in terms of economic liberty,(where rights effect economic liberty conservative will take the side of commerce). Conservatives champion the intersts of business as a means of creating a better Canada. It is a fair position to take, more money represents more oppurtunity. It is also fair to say, as conservatives do, that economies are so complex that governments tend to cause problems when they over manage. Competition is the theme. Competition creates better everything. The flip side of this that it creates winners and losers. This matters less when applied to companies and much, much more when applied to citizens. When people lose it means a hard life, less oppurtunity for themselves and their children. In the free market you need three things to win talent, determination and luck. One your born with, one you can learn and the last is out of your hands. Would Bill Gates have become a billionaire if he was born in a first world slum or a third world country? I have no idea and neither do you. The problem isn't that the free market doesn't work. The problem is that it's not as "free" as conservatives would have you believe. Where you ended up has a lot to do with where you start, talent aside. The better fed you are, a stable and secure your homelife, the better education you recieve all tilt the table in favour of success. These are just some of the factors that determine achievement but they all have an economic component. Now conservatives either don't realize that money plays a role in success or they don't want to talk about it.
This is one of the reasons conservatism does not appeal to me. How can I support an ideology that knows money matters yet pretends that it doesn't.