I'll never know why so many people want to make a very simple distinction so obfuscated.

Not really.

It can refer to social progressives. And that's how a lot of people think of it.

Neoliberalism is definitely pro capitalism.

Maybe y'all mixing up libertarians with liberals.

Here is Google output:

Core Beliefs: Emphasizes individual freedom, rights, and self-determination, with a belief in government's role to protect these rights and promote equality.

Classical Liberalism: Focused on limited government, private property, and consent of the governed (think John Locke).

Modern Liberalism: Seeks broader social justice, economic equality, and government action to solve societal problems (e.g., welfare, civil rights).

Key Values: Fairness, harm reduction, liberty, democracy, human rights, and rule of law.

Liberalism doesn't believe the government should dictate a lot of small things but still believes the government should ensure everyone has equal rights. And should protect the people from some harms like exploitation, dangerous products, pollution, etc.

I don't think people know what "literally" means anymore.

you've got it backwards: politics changes with the times and too many of us are intentionally taught to use the old definitions that stopped being applicable well before our great great grandparents died.

The free market will decide it's actually more profitable to shut down bus service entirely and pivot to helping ICE transport bus loads of "illegal immigrants".

Every time i hear an American say anything about social democrat they are just describing a normal liberal policy.

It's not just weird, it's materially impossible. History doesnt move according to big ideas exclusively, the main driver of history is materialism. Feudalism gave way to capitalism not because someone conceptualized capitalism and made it become real, but because the historical development of feudalism led to the primitive accumulation process of capital, the progressive appearance of a bourgeois class, and this was accelerated by western imperialism and the exploitation of resources in the global south by European powers.

Once the accumulation of capital had taken place and the main economic driver of the economy had become capitalism, it was impossible to return to feudalism, capitalism became a historical necessity. A return to feudalism is simply unfeasible.

Thank you for mentioning this, I thought I was the only one.