861

submitted 10 months ago by lars@lemmy.sdf.org to c/196

181 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Zozano@lemy.lol 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

To be clear, when I did a few university classes on philosophy, the term liberal was used to mean how I was using it. It was not once used to mean anything other than that (except during the first time the concept was introduced to us, when the lecturer said the Australian Liberal Party isn't liberal).

So for me, liberal is not a right wing term, it is inherently leftist.

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

It cannot be.

Leftism is not synonymous with forward thinking, nor synonymous with being open minded. Leftism is about worker ownership of the Means of Production.

Liberal, again, is focused on the Enlightenment philosophy Liberalism, which is characterized by espousing individual liberty and private property rights. It focuses on things like being open-minded and forward-thinking, like you've said, but you're misattributing that to leftism.

You've also been incorrectly saying Americans miscategorize the term into a right-wing term. It's the opposite, conservative fascists see liberals, who are still right-wingers, as leftists, due to the Overton Window. Liberals are still right-wing, and still espouse support for Capitalism.

[-] Zozano@lemy.lol 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yep, my bad. Yes, left-right is about means of production and economical sharing. Though, I would argue, leftism is inherently progressive, because communism naturally succeeds capitalism.

I suppose one day leftism and progressivism will part ways, but it's unlikely to occur in our lifetime.

So for now, I hope my intent was inferred, when my words were wrong.

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

Now, you're starting to make more sense!

I would definitely agree that Leftism is usually more progressive than Rightism! It certainly is, in countries like America, where the genuine leftists are also very advanced when it comes to social issues. However, because leftism is not defined by being open-minded, correct, or even forward-thinking, and merely tends to align with those far more often than not, it can be confusing to completely combine the terminology when they ought not to.

It's like using "red" as a synonym for fascism, when red is also the color of Anarcho-Communism, just because the Nazis used red on their flag. It's better to use the proper terms.