I’m started to become convinced that there is a coordinated effort to misdefine the term liberal among the political left in order to divide us.
I see supposed progressives dedicating significant amounts of time demonizing liberals (when they mean neoliberal), despite the fact that they would mostly agree on policy if that was the topic of conversation.
Enacting progressive taxation, punishing white collar crime, establishing strong environmental protections, establishing a strong social safety net, ensuring high quality universal healthcare, enforcing anti-trust legislation, and enacting electoral finance reforms are all things that liberals support… but instead they are often shouted down by progressives online for being status quo capitalists?
We’re fighting the rise of literal fascists right now, but instead of joining forces we keep arguing about labels among people we agree with.
Enacting progressive taxation, punishing white collar crime, establishing strong environmental protections, establishing a strong social safety net, ensuring high quality universal healthcare, enforcing anti-trust legislation, and enacting electoral finance reforms are all things that liberals support
Those are all things that the liberals of old supported. But the parties that call themselves “liberal” today are usually strictly neoliberal. So that’s what people have come to associate with the term.
In Germany, where I’m from, FDP (“die Liberalen”) is a prime example. They are notorious for campaigning on civil liberties issues and then, once in government, dropping most or all of them in favor of radical deregulation and tax gifts for rich people.
I’m started to become convinced that there is a coordinated effort to misdefine the term liberal among the political left in order to divide us.
I see supposed progressives dedicating significant amounts of time demonizing liberals (when they mean neoliberal), despite the fact that they would mostly agree on policy if that was the topic of conversation.
Enacting progressive taxation, punishing white collar crime, establishing strong environmental protections, establishing a strong social safety net, ensuring high quality universal healthcare, enforcing anti-trust legislation, and enacting electoral finance reforms are all things that liberals support… but instead they are often shouted down by progressives online for being status quo capitalists?
We’re fighting the rise of literal fascists right now, but instead of joining forces we keep arguing about labels among people we agree with.
Imperfect allies are still allies. We need unification against the ultra wealthy.
Those are all things that the liberals of old supported. But the parties that call themselves “liberal” today are usually strictly neoliberal. So that’s what people have come to associate with the term.
Which parties call themselves liberal, but are actually neoliberal?
In Germany, where I’m from, FDP (“die Liberalen”) is a prime example. They are notorious for campaigning on civil liberties issues and then, once in government, dropping most or all of them in favor of radical deregulation and tax gifts for rich people.