Stop calling leftists like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez liberals

[question everything]

Is any word misused more often in the news media than “liberal”?

(snip)

Liberalism has been the governing philosophy of the Democratic Party since Franklin D. Roosevelt, if not Woodrow Wilson: a doctrine of liberty, equality, justice and individual rights that relies, in the modern age, on a strong federal government for enforcement. The party has remained ideologically diverse, ranging from moderates or conservatives — Joe Manchin of West Virginia, for instance, or Rep. Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania — to leftists or radicals, best exemplified today by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., or Ocasio-Cortez and her “Squad.” Most prominent Democrats, however, including established veterans like former Vice President Joe Biden, Pelosi, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, are liberal.

So why has liberal come to mean “radical” in seemingly popular usage? In recent years, what was once a left-wing fringe of the Democratic Party has grown significantly. Instead of describing these newcomers and insurgents as “further to the left” than mainstream liberals, reporters succumb to a convenient shorthand, under which those politicians are deemed “more liberal” than the liberals. To clear up the muddle, true liberals like Obama, Biden and Pelosi are recast as “moderates.” And how to distinguish Obama, Biden or Pelosi from genuine moderates like Manchin and Lamb is not explained.

(snip)

Differences between liberalism and radicalism also surface in our ceaseless debates over free speech on campus, online and elsewhere. Seeing equal rights as the cornerstone of a just society, liberals insist speakers should not be silenced for expressing unpopular or offensive views. A growing faction on the far left, however, mirroring elements of the religious right, favors denying free-speech rights to those who hold ideas it believes crosses inviolable lines — leading to incidents like the assaults on political scientist Charles Murray at Middlebury College or conservative journalist Andy Ngo in Portland, Ore. (The appropriateness of pre-emptive violence can also be a dividing line between liberalism and radicalism.)

(snip)

If the rifts are real, why do the labels matter? Because they shape our perceptions of the political landscape. Terms like “centrist” and “moderate” are nowadays flung as terms of insult or abuse, badges of weakness or tepidness. In 2016, Sanders, joined by the media, inflicted lasting damage on Hillary Clinton’s reputation by casting her in this light, as a betrayer of liberal values: a “hawk,” a shill for big business, even a racist. Her approval ratings, which stood at 55% among his supporters when his attacks began in late 2015, plummeted to below 40% by the next spring, when she had sewn up the nomination.

More..

http://www.startribune.com/stop-calling-leftists-like-bernie-sanders-and-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-liberals/560144032/

[empedocles]

1. Yes

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Interesting article.

Sometimes the extremes come full circle.

[MosheFeingold]

5. Correct

Just for example, people are often shocked that the Nazis were both socialists AND radical racists.

The El Paso shooter was a radical environmentalist and socialist AND racist. (His manifesto was "An Inconvenient Truth," wherein he opined than Hispanics are bad for the environment.)

The left/right scale for politics is really stupid, especially at the crazy margin.

It needs 3 or more axis.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Extreme leftists can be just as authoritarian as the extreme right -

e.g., Stalin. At some point it doesn't matter what you call them because they are anti-democratic either way. The hard left is not "liberal" when it favors top-down governance.

[Lucky Luciano]

3. It's all relative. Those establishment democrats cited as liberal are definitely conservatives...

...in most other first world nations....not lunatics mind you, but conservatives.

[DownriverDem]

14. Not sure about conservatives

I think they are realist. In times like this we must win. We can't get this wrong.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. Whatever word you choose as a substitute ... they'll trash that, too

[McKim]

7. Thank You

Thank you for this great public service. I cringe whenever I hear Senator Sanders and Rep. Ocasio Cortex called liberals!

[KPN]

8. This article seemed to ignore the roots of

modern liberalism being in the 20s, 30s and 40s — anti-trust (monopoly) laws and the New Deal including in its description of FDR. In fact, by the author’s description, FDR was a radical, not a liberal.

As I see it, the article and the author are rooted in what has otherwise been described as neoliberalism or “third way” which in many regards is conservative, especially on the economic front, relative to modern US liberalism. It seems be an attempt to claim ownership of the term liberal by those who are moderate or socially liberal-fiscally conservative.

Seems to me the liberals who adhere to FDR era principles have the more valid claim to the label, not the other way around.

The one thing the article is right about is how branding affects perception. There is no doubt that the conservatives in the GOP have done a good job of branding liberals as radicals. Odd to me that we as a group, Democrats, would promote that same branding.

[YOHABLO]

9. Bernie does not refer to himself as a ''leftist''. That's the ultra right doing that.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, Pelosi, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, are liberal only to a degree. More than anything they're corporate Democrats that lean left... of center.

[DownriverDem]

15. Please define

liberal.

[LakeArenal]

10. Lots of labels going around

Liberal Dems
Conservative Dems?
Alright to label someone a conservative but not a liberal?

Not sure any labels fits any of them

[DownriverDem]

16. Interesting

I've been a liberal my whole life. Those folks you named are fighting for the things I'm fighting for. What does liberal mean to you?

[LakeArenal]

17. Why do you care what it means to me.

Obviously I’m not much on labels

But since you ask, liberal to me means plenty.
That most good things should be liberal
Liberal love, humor, intelligence.
Peace.
Conserving to me means control, storing, keeping things away.

[JonLP24]

11. I think they are despite labels

Joe Biden is more moderate go back through his entire history bankruptcy reform Iraq war. A lot of those Dems more align with new Democrats. AOC & Bernie vote against Trump the vast majority of the time and Bernie wants basic things like universal healthcare, free education, and to expand social security.

Sorry despite the labels I'm not going to ditch Bernie Sanders & AOC for Joe Biden & Hillary Clinton.

I call them progressives but liberal is a close enough word.

[MasonDreams]

12. Actions not words. You can't effectively defend actions by demanding others use different words,

That soften or distort perceptions. Taken to the extreme there are hawks in doves' clothing. Corruption does exist, and all of us should have access to words to expose it.
Centrist and moderate are generous terms. Medicare for all is what Hillary was trying for when she was first lady and the insurance companies killed it. It is not radical, pie in the sky, or even unpopular. A fairer tax system existed under Eisenhower and Nixon. Reagan, Bush W and trump screwed us on taxes. We ought to be able to push back. Defense spending is OMG WTF, where's Eisenhower's warning?? Moderate Republican of the 1980's is how Obama himself described Obama's political philosophy. Vinyl is coming back, and the center is moving left. Vote blue not purple. Because "the center will not hold" T S. Eliot

[Turin_C3PO]

13. Our problem

is fascists and conservatives. Not “leftists” and liberals.

[amcgrath]

18. The central message of Sanders is

That health care should be available to all, wages should be more equitable and energy should be more green.

Compare that to every other "western" country, and then tell me how that is defined as radical?

[Humanist_Activist]

19. I certainly think that leftists aren't liberals, the differences are mostly economic...

liberals are interested in preserving Capitalism, and all its economic stratification and hierarchies while advocating for some social change to allow the lower classes to express themselves non-violently. Leftists are interested in trying to abolish or minimize such inequalities in the first place.

The section on free speech is disingenuous, professors and other faculty face resignation or termination when challenging conservative thought or positions. The so called "free speech crisis on campus" is not only wholly manufactured by conservatives to silence left-wing criticism, but is pure projection.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/31/17718296/campus-free-speech-political-correctness-musa-al-gharbi

Also a note, Charles Murray is a Eugenicist and racist and Andy Ngo was found to participate with and conspire with the Proud Boys, a fascist group, to attack people who are antifascist.