• archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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    7 months ago

    I think the misalignment in meaning actually has more to do with the 1-dimensional binary you just pointed to than to a reversal of meanings.

    Liberalism is an ideology of individualism, which has some overlap with both left and right US political categories, but is certainly not “left” in the poly-sci sense of the word.

    • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      You’re still talking about European liberalism. Liberalism in the United States is more collectivist. Liberals in the US believe that improving the common good makes all our lives better, and believe that those more fortunate should be made to help those less fortunate.

      • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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        7 months ago

        I understand the US political category and the normalized usage of it, but liberalism has a very distinct meaning in polysci. There are aspects of liberalism (in the classical use of the word) within the US political category ‘liberal’, especially when it comes to fiscal policy. People who castigate liberals from the left are those who primarily take issue with that particular quality of US Democratic policy, not the qualities you’re speaking fondly of here.

        Edit: I should say - it is still just a term that describes a particular thing, so if that term isn’t adequately describing what you’re talking about, then maybe a different word should be used

        • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          in polysci

          …which doesn’t matter outside of academic discussions.

          There are aspects of liberalism (in the classical use of the word) within the US political category ‘liberal’,

          Sure, but they still generally mean opposite things. And trolls are still exploiting that.

          • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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            7 months ago

            Lol, they absolutely do not generally mean opposite things. Liberalism includes letting the market regulate itself and abdicating economic authority to capital; US Democratic policy fits that description with sparse exceptions.

            The people you’re talking about are criticizing exactly those aspects of US democratic policy that classical ‘liberalism’ describes.

            They’re not trolling you, you’re just self-identifying yourself with something you might not actually agree with (or you do agree with it, but you take offense with the disparagement)

            • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              See, you’re doing it right now

              Liberalism includes

              So what? Doesn’t mean they’re the same thing. They’re very different ideologies. US liberals are European social democrats (with varying degrees of centrism, of course).

              • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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                7 months ago

                The US has Social Democrats too, why not just call yourself that?

                I’m not even sure why you’re upset about it, it just means a slightly different thing

                • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  I’m not King of the USA, I don’t get to decide how the entire country calls us. We do call ourselves Democrats, but the rest of the country calls us Liberals.