6 ms·

Sorry to be ignorant but what is the difference between a Libertarian and a modern Liberal. I thought they were the same thing?

AntiImperialist 6y ago
They are as different as two sides can be in a political scale.
- ionwake 6y ago
  Its odd the name sounds so similar
DSingularity 6y ago
You are technically correct. The distinction lies in the way the followers of these ideologies understand their philosophy. Libertarians in America are all about liberty from government. For them ideally government is super-limited. Liberals are better understood in terms of traditional thought. Conservatives wish to conserve the “traditional way” of thinking, living, and organizing society while liberals want to “liberate” humans from the those “traditional” ways.
- AntiImperialist 6y ago
  >Conservatives wish to conserve the “traditional way” of thinking, living, and organizing society while liberals want to “liberate” humans from the those “traditional” ways. Your statement is true but Democrats, who call themselves liberals, are not that. They are the most conservative party. They're much more conservative than Republicans on most issues. For example, ideas about "science" or "nature" for example.
  - mrgordon 6y ago
    Who let the troll in?
cnorthwood 6y ago
There are two types of freedoms under liberalism, the "freedom to", and "freedom from". Libertarians are mostly concerned with the former (e.g., minimising laws which stop their ability to do something) whereas modern liberalism takes a more balanced approach (for example, making racial discrimination illegal reduces someone's freedom to be racist whilst improving another groups ability to partake in society without experiencing discrimination)
ur-whale 6y ago
The american definition of "liberal" basically means socialist. In 2020, "liberals" in america have very little to do with the original meaning of the word which meant "in favor of freedom". If there is one thing the liberals in the US have very little care about it is preserving freedom. It's the main reason they got spanked by trump in '16. It has very little to do with the European understanding of "liberalism", which is what americans call "libertarians".
- Rapzid 6y ago
  That's a caricature of liberals you'd expect to find being pushed on people to elicit an endorphin response to confirmation bias. > If there is one thing the liberals in the US have very little care about it is preserving freedom You can't spend more than 2 seconds researching modern liberalism without civil liberties coming up.
  - ur-whale 6y ago
    > That's a caricature of liberals you'd expect to find being pushed on people to elicit an endorphin response to confirmation bias. Funny :D >You can't spend more than 2 seconds researching modern liberalism without civil liberties coming up. Civil liberties != individual freedom They actually are more often than not antinomic.
- bdcravens 6y ago
  "Patriot" is another term that seems to have mutated in modern US politics.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > The american definition of "liberal" basically means socialist. No, it doesn't. Though it overlaps with a common American use of “socialist” to mean anyone outside of the far-right. Most American “liberals” are center-right corporate capitalists, which is also the narrow sense of “liberal” in much of the world. > In 2020, "liberals" in america have very little to do with the original meaning of the word which meant "in favor of freedom". This is false, and even more than just being liberal in this vague sense, most American “liberals” and a great share of American “conservatives” are adherents to ideologies which evolved fairly directly from 18th century classical liberalism, differing largely in whether they view the immediate goals of 18th century liberals as having been terminal or steps in the direction of the desired goal.
Zamicol 6y ago
American politics have terrible naming schemes.
raziel2701 6y ago
Those two are words whose meaning morphs over time and every person seems to have their own pet definition so the terms are essentially meaningless and become whatever anyone wants. I've heard people to the left of Sarah Palin being described as liberals after all. These two terms are heavily misused. We're pretty much in a double-speak world right now.
octoberfranklin 6y ago
You must be British.
- ionwake 6y ago
  I am ! How did you know

AntiImperialist 6y ago

They are as different as two sides can be in a political scale.

ionwake 6y ago
Its odd the name sounds so similar

DSingularity 6y ago

You are technically correct. The distinction lies in the way the followers of these ideologies understand their philosophy. Libertarians in America are all about liberty from government. For them ideally government is super-limited. Liberals are better understood in terms of traditional thought. Conservatives wish to conserve the “traditional way” of thinking, living, and organizing society while liberals want to “liberate” humans from the those “traditional” ways.

AntiImperialist 6y ago
>Conservatives wish to conserve the “traditional way” of thinking, living, and organizing society while liberals want to “liberate” humans from the those “traditional” ways. Your statement is true but Democrats, who call themselves liberals, are not that. They are the most conservative party. They're much more conservative than Republicans on most issues. For example, ideas about "science" or "nature" for example.
- mrgordon 6y ago
  Who let the troll in?

cnorthwood 6y ago

There are two types of freedoms under liberalism, the "freedom to", and "freedom from". Libertarians are mostly concerned with the former (e.g., minimising laws which stop their ability to do something) whereas modern liberalism takes a more balanced approach (for example, making racial discrimination illegal reduces someone's freedom to be racist whilst improving another groups ability to partake in society without experiencing discrimination)

ur-whale 6y ago

The american definition of "liberal" basically means socialist. In 2020, "liberals" in america have very little to do with the original meaning of the word which meant "in favor of freedom". If there is one thing the liberals in the US have very little care about it is preserving freedom. It's the main reason they got spanked by trump in '16. It has very little to do with the European understanding of "liberalism", which is what americans call "libertarians".

Rapzid 6y ago
That's a caricature of liberals you'd expect to find being pushed on people to elicit an endorphin response to confirmation bias. > If there is one thing the liberals in the US have very little care about it is preserving freedom You can't spend more than 2 seconds researching modern liberalism without civil liberties coming up.
- ur-whale 6y ago
  > That's a caricature of liberals you'd expect to find being pushed on people to elicit an endorphin response to confirmation bias. Funny :D >You can't spend more than 2 seconds researching modern liberalism without civil liberties coming up. Civil liberties != individual freedom They actually are more often than not antinomic.
bdcravens 6y ago
"Patriot" is another term that seems to have mutated in modern US politics.
dragonwriter 6y ago
> The american definition of "liberal" basically means socialist. No, it doesn't. Though it overlaps with a common American use of “socialist” to mean anyone outside of the far-right. Most American “liberals” are center-right corporate capitalists, which is also the narrow sense of “liberal” in much of the world. > In 2020, "liberals" in america have very little to do with the original meaning of the word which meant "in favor of freedom". This is false, and even more than just being liberal in this vague sense, most American “liberals” and a great share of American “conservatives” are adherents to ideologies which evolved fairly directly from 18th century classical liberalism, differing largely in whether they view the immediate goals of 18th century liberals as having been terminal or steps in the direction of the desired goal.

Zamicol 6y ago

American politics have terrible naming schemes.

raziel2701 6y ago

Those two are words whose meaning morphs over time and every person seems to have their own pet definition so the terms are essentially meaningless and become whatever anyone wants. I've heard people to the left of Sarah Palin being described as liberals after all. These two terms are heavily misused. We're pretty much in a double-speak world right now.

octoberfranklin 6y ago

You must be British.

ionwake 6y ago
I am ! How did you know