• Rhaedas@fedia.io
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    6 hours ago

    From my understanding a lot of the issue positions that a liberal and a leftist are shared. They want similar changes. Where they disagree is in how to bring about those changes. Liberal wants to use the systems in place to gradually shift, leftists are more radical and wanting quick change through various means. Centrist is what a lot of the Democrats are now, still wanting much of the liberal stance, continuing to not only want to use traditional means to get it, but also caving in often or using the excuse of working across the aisle with their counterparts as why much doesn’t get done. I don’t know if there’s anything between leftist and liberal, maybe progressive?

    It is also a slur, much like boomer and millennial have become, not meaning anything beyond “different than me”.

    • zout@fedia.io
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      6 hours ago

      Liberalism is a political philosophy that classically strifes for as much freedom for the invidual as possible without limiting other’s freedoms, separation of church and state, small governments, and free markets without government interference. In theory it can both be left or right in politics, but in my experience they’re globally more right leaning (probably due to the small government and free market ideas, which can ultimately lead to ladder pulling tendencies). It is only called leftism in the US because the conservatives are even more to the right, globally US liberals would be seen as right-wing with some exceptions.

      • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
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        2 hours ago

        Gay marriage is liberal as well because the government isn’t interfering in marriage.

        So are open borders because those are a government restriction.

        Those are pretty big issues in the US.

        Alternatively gun control is authoritarian/anti-Liberal and they scream for that.