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Why does "liberal" mean something essentially unrelated to "liberal" in American politics? How did that come about?
by blattimwind 9y ago
Why does "liberal" mean something essentially unrelated to "liberal" in American politics? How did that come about?
- grzm 9y agoHere’s one explanation: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/the-origin-of-liberalism/283780/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/the-ori...
- neonhomer 9y agoIt seems that very few political meanings are accurate when it comes to US politics. The terms liberal and conservative have pretty much lost all their original meaning.
- freehunter 9y agoLiberal compared to the other party, which is far-right.
- meko 9y agobut the far right still falls under the umbrella of Classical Liberalism, they're reactionary liberals, but still liberals. If you 'believe' in the market and private ownership of capital a` la Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, then you fall into that political purview. it's the dominant ideology of the developed world.
- spiralx 9y agoBecause the original use referred to economic liberalism, whereas in the US the term has come to refer to social liberalism.