Hello, comrades. I was wondering why we allowed “liberal” to become a dirty word? A “liberal” is someone favorable to progress or reform, and also someone in favor of individual rights and liberties.
I understand American fake liberals largely discredited the word, but in Lemmygrad forums, I see true liberalism every day: people discuss progressive ideas all the time, and are very tolerant of each other. Why do we allow American fake liberals to ruin the experience for us all? The word “liberal” should once again ring positive, while fake liberals should be called “faux liberals” which they are, don’t you agree?
When you say “liberalism”, do you only have American liberalism in mind, or liberalism in general? I take it you don’t believe in the ability of American liberalism to reform itself?
You are asking a lot of questions and making many rhetorical points but it seems like you’re not reading the answers to your statements.
Liberalism is an idealist, not materialist, perspective and it is the ideology of capitalism. This is not specific to America. It is not specific to any country. It has no place in Marxist discourse except as a point for understanding its flaws and inability to explain organized society.
You basic question has already been answered and if you continue further down the assumption and rhetorical questioning path with these comments it’s going to sound more like someone who’s trolling rather than actually wanting more education on the term.
I understand the point. It’s just that I believe things have evolved over time, and liberalism is not the same thing it once was, but I will not insist on that if people really think it is trolling.
We do not, at least most here don’t, accept that there can be multiple definitions for terms.
While of course, many people think liberalism is (____), such as the US, wich you’ve mentioned, we do not consider their definitions. To us, their conservative/liberal divide is almost non-existant.
And when it comes to other countries, being “liberal” many times means capitalist hell - most of the West and its victims are part of “liberal capitalism” for a reason.
For example, while everyone can laugh at the “liberals” in north america, the liberals in Fr*nce, England, Germany etc. are all sending weapons to nazis in ukraine rn. They’re causing the destabilization of most countries in the world with their sanctions. They are in no way tolerant or non-hostile.
The values you ascribe to liberalism, tolerance amd progressivism, can only be achieved by surpassing it, by achieving socialism. Liberalism is the status quo, it’s not getting any better, only worse.