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Im not conservative enough to be a liberal (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 day ago by to c/lemmyshitpost@lemmy.world
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[–] 15 points 1 day ago (29 children)

In the USA liberal is the term used to describe progressives. I believe that's what they mean.

Any Joe Schmoe on the street in the USA will use it that way. They do not know the dictionary/philosophical definition of the term, that people on Lemmy beat on relentlessly.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 day ago (10 children)

    bullshit. I hang out in progressives circles, every single American progressive world be insulted if I they are called liberal.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (9 children)

    K

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  • [–] 0 points 22 hours ago (8 children)

    Liberals are conservatives, they want the status quo. Progressives seek to fix broken liberal policies and structures.

    There is this thing where conservatives call Democratic people liberals as a pejorative. This is nonsense though as most conservatives very much support liberal structures like the system of law.

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  • [–] 5 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (7 children)

    I swear. You get on the Internet and people just want to be angry and espouse their views without understanding what they've read in the first place.

    I explained what I believe the reasoning behind the parent comment is. Nothing more. I'm not stating my personal belief or understanding of the word.

    I KNOW what a liberal is by definition. It's NOT USED THAT WAY in the USA common discourse.

    People talking about their progressive circles and how the word "liberal" gets used are missing my point too. I'm not talking about correct usage, I'm taking about common usage. The news, day to day conversation with people outside your bubble.

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  • [–] 0 points 20 hours ago* (6 children)

    What you refer to as the common usage in the US is not common amongst anyone but ignorant conservatives. I clarified that for you.

    Amongst many Democratic people the word is generally viewed as positive.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 hours ago (1 child)

    It's been used that way for over a century if you look up articles like social liberalism which will explain to you that in that terminology, things like access to affordable healthcare and education are actually important because it's liberalism as in liberties of the individuals living in said society, not liberties of corporations.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 hours ago

    I see your point and I agree for the most part.

    Liberty means very different things to different people and in many cases liberty as it is understood in the US is not compatible with social liberalism. Most conservatives, for example, view it as freedom from the government and rules. Imposing something like universal healthcare would be taking away their liberties and choice.

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  • [–] 1 point 13 hours ago* (3 children)

    Amongst many Democratic people the word is generally viewed as positive.

    Are all Dems conservative in your view then? Or did you mean something else by this?

    The news, co-workers, and people I've talked to out and about in the 5 different states I've lived in or regularly visit use it to mean ANYTHING "left".

    Edit: fixed some typos

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  • [–] 1 point 12 hours ago (2 children)

    Yes, that is very common usage of the word for ignorant conservatives. I lived for five years on SE rural Idaho and liberal there was an insult.

    I grew up in Seattle and there liberal wasn't an insult because most people knew what it actually means.

    So essentially liberal is a bad word for progressives who view them as fake for a number of reasons and conservatives who don't understand what the word means but dislike it because they were told it was bad word.

    Most Democratic people are conservative and would be considered traditionally liberal. The strict definition of liberal is rooted in classical liberalism, emphasizing individual rights, democracy, a secular state, and free-market capitalism with limited government interference.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 hours ago (1 child)

    Ok, and I'm not talking about whether it's an insult or not? You are spending a lot of time trying to explain the word to me. I know what it means, I know how it's used by various groups. I know a lot of Dems are true Liberals or neo-libs.

    I'm talking about whether or not people treat it as a synonym for "left" or "progressive". A lot of the USA does! Not just conservatives. Just normal everyday people who do not live in philosophical circles.

    I've lived in Cali, New Mexico, various parts of Texas, Colorado and regularly visit Michigan and parts of the East Coast.

    Aside from my Progressive friends that are trying to start a commune in Detroit, no one else uses the word "liberal" by definition. The Detroit commune even uses the word "liberal" when they are talking to "normies" because explaining socialism to others is HARD.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

    Yes, I get the liberals being "normies" thing as that was common in the Seattle area.

    Most people that use the word don't know what it means. For those who do, it can have very different meanings as well. For someone who believes in communism/socialism liberals represent death as in liberals have went around killing leftist for decades now.

    The reason there is no left in the US because it was snuffed out several times by liberals. McCarthyism is the most common example, but it has been a reoccurring theme in US polticis so much so that the right has perverted the definition of left and liberals to their advantage to paint Democratic people as unamerican.

    I would be very careful allowing others to define words for you. You definitely shouldn't be listening to people who don't understand what words mean or random strangers on the Internet like me /s

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  • [–] 18 points 1 day ago (7 children)

    In the USA liberal is the term used to describe progressives.

    No we don't. We use that to describe democrats who pretend to lean left while being conservative in all but name. Actual progressives get called other things like anarchists, dirty commies, or unamerican.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Eh. If you’re in the know, then yes, you’re correct, but your average American probably doesn’t even understand that there’s any distinction at all, and so for those people “liberal” is the catch-all term for progressives.

    If someone who actually understands politics calls me a liberal, I’m gonna protest. If my dumbfuck uncle calls me a liberal, I’ll let it lie, because that’s as close as he’s reasonably going to get to understanding my political views.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

    Basically in the Midwest anyone who is not conservative/GOP is called liberal. From center to Marx himself, all libs. It is confusing being on Lemmy where classic liberalism is used.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago

    Yeah, cause that's how those on the right view anyone left of them. The Overton Window has shifted way too far right that both capitalist neoliberals and socialists get called liberal socialists by the right despite that literally being an oxymoron.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Just because someone is using a term with its own meanings and definition horribly incorrectly doesn't mean it's acceptable to perpetrate it.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 day ago

    My god, I'm merely explaining the original comment someone else made.

    I know the pedantry is expected, but maybe we can take a step back and read intent before smashing faces into our respective keyboards?

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  • [–] 0 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    The rest of the world uses the actual dictionary definition. "America uses its own definition so that must be more correct" is pretty damn yankee

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago

    Never argued that it was more correct...

    I'm merely explaining the original comment someone else made.

    I know the pedantry is expected, but maybe we can take a step back and read intent before smashing faces into our respective keyboards?

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  • [–] 0 points 1 day ago (2 children)

    The term progressive was invented to literally differentiate from liberals along the conservative to progressive axis. Liberals by definition don't want systemic change, they just want to be liberal in spending towards social services and regulations, but keep the capitalist structure underneath.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago

    You see that explanation you gave? I'm going to assume it's correct.

    But that doesn't change the fact that those terms get used as synonyms by a lot of people in the USA.

    And besides that point... I was only trying to explain what the original comment was pointing to.

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  • [–] 1 point 19 hours ago

    Liberals want freedom of some kind: liberalism; liberty. That may be freedom for individuals or for companies. It may be a negative "freedom from interference" or positive "freedom to achieve ones desires". That variety is what gives it its many practical meanings

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