Before the republican party went insane, liberal was what we called anyone who wanted to use tax money to improve the country… a good thing.
Yes, but technically Liberal describes advocates of indiscriminate personal freedoms which often gets adversarial treatment from communists. For example, Libertarians are technically Liberals, but they want the freedom to not pay taxes. More prominent and less controversial examples of a Liberal are a Civil Rights Activist, a Free Education activist, or Single Payer Healthcare reformist.
Like so many things in life, this too is a nuanced issue that you have to carefully look at and weigh on a case by case basis. The line between absolute freedom to do whatever you want and total authoriarianism is trickybto track sometimes.
a good guide is, “does this ‘freedom’ enable me to infringe on the freedoms of others?”
typically, in a rational society, that’s where the line is drawn.
for example:
- you have freedom of speech, but not the freedom to use that speech to, say, incite a riot
- you have the freedom to own a firearm, but not the freedom to murder someone with it
- you have the freedom to travel, but the means of that travel are often regulated (eg; operating a motor vehicle requires one be licensed and insured, and the vehicle be registered, etc).
Normally I’d use the aphorism about the right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins here in order to agree with you, but it was used in so many pro-prohibition arguments that I’m no longer comfortable doing it. Authoritarians will use pro liberty arguments to advance their agendas.
My agreement stands, however.
And then we have the exception to that rule: Protests
Protests are technically restricting other peoples freedoms but we weigh the cost of banning them and see that its sort of a necessary evil.
That’s why official protests have to be permitted. If you don’t have an official permit for protest, that protest can be designated as unlawful and disbanded.
Depends on where you live. The laws for that do differ quite a bit. In Germany for example, spontaneous protests can be announced to any nearby police officer and immediately become lawful by doing so. In other countries you just need to fill some form, in even other countries its a long and tedious process, etc
Just by telling a nearby cop, you say?
Fascinating…
Note to anyone reading this outside the US: The word “liberal” is completely different from what the word means to you. Here it literally just means “left-wing” relative to the Republicans. So the Republicans use it as an insult of course.
Which is sad because center right is still pretty far to the left of the Republicans.
Kamala would be pretty much center in many European countries. Walz would be downright conservative.
I mean, America is a very liberal country. Between classical liberals, neoliberals, and progressive (social) liberals, I’d say liberals are a pretty healthy majority in the country.
Good for Tim.
It’s such a small thing, and I can’t be bothered to go find the actual interview they’re referencing, but it appears he didn’t actually use the world “liberal” in his statement they’re quoting
He later said, “So, if that’s where they want to label me, I’m more than happy to take the [liberal] label.”
Voice of America - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)
Information for Voice of America:
MBFC: Least Biased - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - United States of America
Wikipedia about this sourceSearch topics on Ground.News
This was posted here multiple times already…
