[KC]

Something I have seen others, and been guilty of myself, on this board is the misuse of a certain word.

As defined, liberal:
-Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
-Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
-Liberal education: education that enlarges and disciplines the mind and makes it master of its own powers, irrespective of the particular business or profession one may follow.
-Usage: Liberal, Generous. Liberal is freeborn, and generous is highborn. The former is opposed to the ordinary feelings of a servile state, and implies largeness of spirit in giving, judging, acting, etc. The latter expresses that nobleness of soul which is peculiarly appropriate to those of high rank, -- a spirit that goes out of self, and finds its enjoyment in consulting the feelings and happiness of others. Generosity is measured by the extent of the sacrifices it makes; liberality, by the warmth of feeling which it manifests.


As opposed to, for example:

Libertine:
-One who acts without moral restraint; a dissolute person.
-One free from restraint; one who acts according to his impulses and desires; now, specifically, one who gives rein to lust; a rake; a debauchee.

Socialism:
-general term for the political and economic theory that advocates a system of collective or government ownership and management of the means of production and distribution of goods. Because of the collective nature of socialism, it is to be contrasted to the doctrine of the sanctity of private property that characterizes capitalism .
-Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
-The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved.

Communism:
-A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.

(Definitions taken variously from Dictionary.com and Encyclopedia.com)


My point is that some of us (myself included) have perhaps been careless in the use of the word liberal. It should not be a curse or pejorative. It is a statement of positive ideals, "...open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others..." To be charitable, the word liberal has become something not used in polite company in some quaters of this country, and in some instances on this board. This is seemingly inproper. Liberal was once a word used to describe the likes of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, et al. It instead has become a descriptor for the likes of Robespierre, VI Lennin, or Bill Clinton.

Too broad a brush, and we are all tarred equally; place the disapprobation where it is due.


KC

[Brian Dale]

I guess that makes me a liberal.

And the people I've been calling "liberals" ought correctly to be called Socialists.

I'm not going to put an "I am a Liberal" bumper sticker on my car, though. The incorrect-but-common usage of the word has transmogrified it, like a lot of other words. I will make the effort to use it correctly here. Good point; thanks.

[Drjones]

You raise a good point.

For a while now, I've been calling liberals/leftists by their true and accurate names: communists.

[4570Rick]

I've been guilty too.
I will try to refrain from calling someone a liberal when Elitist illegitimate offspring of rodents would be more appropriate.:D

[jsalcedo]

"...open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others..."


It is too bad that liberal:

Progress is victim disarmament.

The ideas are collectivism and redistibution of wealth in the name of social welfare.

Tolerance includes, hedonistic, deviant and immoral behaviors that are plastered all over TV, billboards and are touted in pop culture.

I would like to lose some progress.

[Art Eatman]

There's no correlation between the Classical Liberalism liberal and today's Modern American Liberal. A better word to use, probably, than "Liberal" to describe these creatures is "Statist", since they generally want the state, The Gummint, to have unlimited powers.

Art

[Keith]

I think of myself as a Jeffersonian Liberal. I have nothing in common with these others who use the term to describe a philosophy revolving around the surrender of all rights and responsibilities to the state.

Art's term is the correct one; statist.

Keith

[Preacherman]

Or, for those who know and love the books of David Weber, "Dolist". :D

[BigG]

I guess I think of myself as a TAXPAYER who goes thru life with his eyes open and tries to analyze things for myself. All the other labels are mental mas - um - playing with yourself - as VP Agnew once noted. ;)

[cordex]

A better word to use, probably, than "Liberal" to describe these creatures is "Statist", since they generally want the state, The Gummint, to have unlimited powers.
The problem with this replacement is that Statist can just as accurately describe many so-called "Conservatives".

[Drjones]

Art is of course correct.

It's funny; I was reading a book that was published in the early 50's and it had a chapter titled "Attacks from the left and right." Naturally, I went straight to it.

Wouldn't you know it; the "left" position in the book was the position of today's right, and the "right" position in the book was that of today's left.

Odd...

[Ladybug]

Philosophical liberal = political conservative

Classical libertarians believe in liberty as a freedom from big government, modern liberalists believe liberty equates to fairness and the role of government is in making the world a "fair" place for everyone.

[Kinsman]

I've called 'em socialists for a long time, cuz liberal they ain't.
Lately it's been 'elitist' or even 'fascist' although that last one is a bit more difficult to pin down accurately.

[hillbilly]

Facists are statists whose vision of the state and control and power are all determined by race, ethnicity, or nationality, especially nationality as determined by race and ethnicity.

Communists have a lot in common with facists, which they hate to admit, only their visions of complete domination and control go far beyond race and ethnicity.

For example, no matter how much a person with Jewish ancestry might have agreed with the Nazis in Germany, that person could never, ever actually be a Nazi because of race and ethnicity.

In fact, because of facism, even a Jew who agreed with Nazis in philosophy would be sent to the gas chambers.

However, no matter how "Russian" you might have been, if you disagreed at all with the philosophy of the Communist Party, you would be sent to the underground torture and execution gulags.

Facists base their judgments of good and bad on race and ethnicity.

Communists base their judgments on loyalty to the philosophies and ideas of Karl Marx.

The results, however, are essentially the same.....

No individual rights. Complete tyranny. Mass murder, horror, torture.

hillbilly

[Standing Wolf]

They may call themselves "liberals," but I call them what they really are: leftist extremists, socialist parasites, and wannabe tyrants.

[BigG]

If you guys really want to get educated as to labelling, you should know that "left" and "right" were originally coined to described wings of the communist party. We should really not use those terms to describe our form of government if we are going to start splitting hairs, um I mean being more precise. There are some good posts about this, prolly on TFL if anyone wants to search.

[KC]

"..."left" and "right" were originally coined to described wings of the communist party."

No, it's a little older than that. It was used to describe on which side of the room, the political orientation, of Roman Senators.