We have an issue with definitions and terminologies that get mixed up really frequently to the common layman. I used to think liberal meant “left” before I knew better.
This really is a problem, and is why we have so much discord here. This is not the fault of the people using the accurate language, but they do need to be aware of how many politically descriptive words have different meanings to the average person.
Like you, I misused liberal until recently. I considered it the opposite of conservative, as in the US political parties. I was, therefore, often upset when a comment disparaged liberals. I identified with that label, but I am not a Liberal the way it is often used here.
People using these terms correctly need to have patience, instead of scorn, with those of us who are not (yet) as informed.
The Democrats in power are not really liberals either, they are neoliberals. And they are constitutionally opposed to any real sort of reform, or addressing the root causes of our problems. They will borrow money to spend on addressing some of the problems, but they were chosen to not undo the gains the rich have made, and indeed that the National Security state has made. They will not fix anything,
Part of the problem is that you can be a social libertarian (the government shouldn’t tell me who I can/can’t marry) or an economic libertarian (the government shouldn’t tax me). Tending to one is mutually exclusive from tending to the other.
These are both spectrums as well not hard and fast rules. For example “I’m a man and I want to marry a man” is quite different from “I’m a man and I want to marry a 12 year old child” and “the government shouldn’t tax poor people” (is the economic or social?) is quite different from “the government shouldn’t tax anyone”.
Given they are spectrums there should be a modicum of both of these ideas but as with anything, extremes are probably going to have extreme downsides.
Socialists fought for this shit, not Democrats.
We have an issue with definitions and terminologies that get mixed up really frequently to the common layman. I used to think liberal meant “left” before I knew better.
This really is a problem, and is why we have so much discord here. This is not the fault of the people using the accurate language, but they do need to be aware of how many politically descriptive words have different meanings to the average person.
Like you, I misused liberal until recently. I considered it the opposite of conservative, as in the US political parties. I was, therefore, often upset when a comment disparaged liberals. I identified with that label, but I am not a Liberal the way it is often used here.
People using these terms correctly need to have patience, instead of scorn, with those of us who are not (yet) as informed.
The Democrats in power are not really liberals either, they are neoliberals. And they are constitutionally opposed to any real sort of reform, or addressing the root causes of our problems. They will borrow money to spend on addressing some of the problems, but they were chosen to not undo the gains the rich have made, and indeed that the National Security state has made. They will not fix anything,
Liberals are just against government control. It favours maintaining a system of private control rather than reforming it.
Part of the problem is that you can be a social libertarian (the government shouldn’t tell me who I can/can’t marry) or an economic libertarian (the government shouldn’t tax me). Tending to one is mutually exclusive from tending to the other.
These are both spectrums as well not hard and fast rules. For example “I’m a man and I want to marry a man” is quite different from “I’m a man and I want to marry a 12 year old child” and “the government shouldn’t tax poor people” (is the economic or social?) is quite different from “the government shouldn’t tax anyone”.
Given they are spectrums there should be a modicum of both of these ideas but as with anything, extremes are probably going to have extreme downsides.