4 ms·

which makes sense. It seems to have been built on libertarian principles and rejects authoritarian principles. not sure how much more liberal you can get.

airstrike 8y ago
You're mixing up liberal with libertarian.
- uxp100 8y ago
  Libertarians are at least related to liberals, but it seems the words left, liberal, and libertarian are often confusing, and they're not very fine grained descriptions anyway.
  - pathseeker 8y ago
    In the US they are related to conservatives as well. Libertarians share very little with liberals when it comes to views on what the government should regulate. The thing they have in common is social liberalism (allow gay marriage, individual drug use, etc).
    - optimuspaul 8y ago
      So heres the problem I'm seeing here. Liberal is not the opposite of Conservative. Conservatism opposes Progressivism, Liberalism opposes Authoritarianism. For the most part people in the US are liberal, they believe in general equality and freedom. Progressives are also generally liberal but also tend to stir the pot and want change. It is also very possible to be conservative and liberal, which a large minority in the US are. I'd also argue there are a lot of authoritarian conservatives and authoritarian progressives. But I think most believe in the basic principles of freedom and equality that define liberals.
      - 18pfsmt 8y ago
        The way I see it, the authoritarians in the US hijacked the word liberal and want to conflate it with progressive, despite the derivation of the word itself. If one is a proponent of liberty, forcing people to do things/ not do things is authoritarian, and therefore, not liberal. I'm all for change, but I despise force (other than Gandhi's 'force of truth', Satyagraha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyagraha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyagraha).
- optimuspaul 8y ago
  I don't think I am. I think perhaps you have conflated liberal with progressive.

airstrike 8y ago

You're mixing up liberal with libertarian.

uxp100 8y ago
Libertarians are at least related to liberals, but it seems the words left, liberal, and libertarian are often confusing, and they're not very fine grained descriptions anyway.
- pathseeker 8y ago
  In the US they are related to conservatives as well. Libertarians share very little with liberals when it comes to views on what the government should regulate. The thing they have in common is social liberalism (allow gay marriage, individual drug use, etc).
  - optimuspaul 8y ago
    So heres the problem I'm seeing here. Liberal is not the opposite of Conservative. Conservatism opposes Progressivism, Liberalism opposes Authoritarianism. For the most part people in the US are liberal, they believe in general equality and freedom. Progressives are also generally liberal but also tend to stir the pot and want change. It is also very possible to be conservative and liberal, which a large minority in the US are. I'd also argue there are a lot of authoritarian conservatives and authoritarian progressives. But I think most believe in the basic principles of freedom and equality that define liberals.
    - 18pfsmt 8y ago
      The way I see it, the authoritarians in the US hijacked the word liberal and want to conflate it with progressive, despite the derivation of the word itself. If one is a proponent of liberty, forcing people to do things/ not do things is authoritarian, and therefore, not liberal. I'm all for change, but I despise force (other than Gandhi's 'force of truth', Satyagraha: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyagraha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyagraha).
optimuspaul 8y ago
I don't think I am. I think perhaps you have conflated liberal with progressive.