Liberal has always meant generally what most Western countries would currently describe as centrist, basically mainstream Democrats. Leftists are, broadly, socialists and communists.
Liberals are generally pro-capitalism. A Leftist might be pro-markets, but only in non-capitalist forms like worker-owned co-ops. Liberals believe in private property, i.e. resources that an individual can own in order to extract profit from use by others. Leftists reject private property, though generally believe in personal property, i.e. resources that an individual uses themselves.
It has become common lately on the right to use the terms interchangeably, but Liberal is center-right. It only looks like the Left when compared to far-right ideologies.
Liberal has always meant generally what most Western countries would currently describe as centrist, basically mainstream Democrats. Leftists are, broadly, socialists and communists.
Liberals are generally pro-capitalism. A Leftist might be pro-markets, but only in non-capitalist forms like worker-owned co-ops. Liberals believe in private property, i.e. resources that an individual can own in order to extract profit from use by others. Leftists reject private property, though generally believe in personal property, i.e. resources that an individual uses themselves.
It has become common lately on the right to use the terms interchangeably, but Liberal is center-right. It only looks like the Left when compared to far-right ideologies.
Mainstream Democrats are not ‘centrist’ from the PoV of most western countries. They are far-right. Republicans are ultra-extreme-far-right.