4 ms·

As an European this confuses me. In most of the world (AFAIK) "liberal" is basically the same as capitalist. So for example Trump is a liberal. Is this because

• thristian 5y ago
  There's (at least) two kinds of liberalism. "Economic liberalism" is basically capitalism, while "social liberalism" means things like gay marriage, trans rights, etc. There's also "economic conservatism" and "social conservatism". In Europe, where societies have millennia-long traditions behind them, it wouldn't surprise me that "liberal" parties are both kinds of liberal, while "conservative" parties are both kinds of conservative. On the other hand, the origin story of the USA involves both fleeing from religious persecution and economic rebellion; that is, extreme social conservatism and extreme economic liberalism. Thus, "conservative" Americans hold onto those values, and "liberal" Americans are left with the opposite: social liberalism and economic conservatism.
• enragedcacti 5y ago
  In the United States the Overton window is shifted such that most mainstream politicians (except Bernie Sanders, AOC, and similar characters) are liberal in the European sense i.e. capitalist. In our terminology, the republicans are "conservative" and democrats are "liberal" and those terms are used interchangeably with left/right in the mainstream. US leftists (demsoc, socialists, communists, etc.) use the European definitions and hate on liberals/neolibs while most on the right use US terminology and would probably call socialists and communists "liberals".
  • mortenlarsen 5y ago
    [flagged]