• archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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    7 months ago

    I understand the US political category and the normalized usage of it, but liberalism has a very distinct meaning in polysci. There are aspects of liberalism (in the classical use of the word) within the US political category ‘liberal’, especially when it comes to fiscal policy. People who castigate liberals from the left are those who primarily take issue with that particular quality of US Democratic policy, not the qualities you’re speaking fondly of here.

    Edit: I should say - it is still just a term that describes a particular thing, so if that term isn’t adequately describing what you’re talking about, then maybe a different word should be used

    • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      in polysci

      …which doesn’t matter outside of academic discussions.

      There are aspects of liberalism (in the classical use of the word) within the US political category ‘liberal’,

      Sure, but they still generally mean opposite things. And trolls are still exploiting that.

      • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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        7 months ago

        Lol, they absolutely do not generally mean opposite things. Liberalism includes letting the market regulate itself and abdicating economic authority to capital; US Democratic policy fits that description with sparse exceptions.

        The people you’re talking about are criticizing exactly those aspects of US democratic policy that classical ‘liberalism’ describes.

        They’re not trolling you, you’re just self-identifying yourself with something you might not actually agree with (or you do agree with it, but you take offense with the disparagement)

        • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          See, you’re doing it right now

          Liberalism includes

          So what? Doesn’t mean they’re the same thing. They’re very different ideologies. US liberals are European social democrats (with varying degrees of centrism, of course).

          • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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            7 months ago

            The US has Social Democrats too, why not just call yourself that?

            I’m not even sure why you’re upset about it, it just means a slightly different thing

            • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I’m not King of the USA, I don’t get to decide how the entire country calls us. We do call ourselves Democrats, but the rest of the country calls us Liberals.