Yeah the term “liberal” has become a bit of a pejorative term, at least on Lemmy. The people it’s used to describe are liberal on the surface, but are still pawns to the capitalist machine, same as the right/conservatives/MAGA/alt-right.
The word liberal at its heart literally means someone who supports market liberalism or laissez-faire economics. In the US the word liberal is used as shorthand for a neoliberal, which is someone who supports free market fundamentals while understanding that some form of social safety nets are necessary (but also optional). The common US liberal might say we need to care about the marginalized, but ultimately seems themselves as above being marginalized. Conservatives are the old school liberals who think social safety nets are never necessary or optional. So yeah a liberal in the context of today’s social-economic-political landscape isn’t much different than a conservative.
Yeah the term “liberal” has become a bit of a pejorative term, at least on Lemmy. The people it’s used to describe are liberal on the surface, but are still pawns to the capitalist machine, same as the right/conservatives/MAGA/alt-right.
The word liberal at its heart literally means someone who supports market liberalism or laissez-faire economics. In the US the word liberal is used as shorthand for a neoliberal, which is someone who supports free market fundamentals while understanding that some form of social safety nets are necessary (but also optional). The common US liberal might say we need to care about the marginalized, but ultimately seems themselves as above being marginalized. Conservatives are the old school liberals who think social safety nets are never necessary or optional. So yeah a liberal in the context of today’s social-economic-political landscape isn’t much different than a conservative.