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.
this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2024
285 points (97.3% liked)
politics
18828 readers
4755 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
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…
It makes for funny interactions in my experience. Bunch of people coordinate to gather in some park, but dont actually technically start any protest or block the street. Then when the cops arrive or just happen to come by (often they already know because they look at public social media) someone walks up to them saying "I hereby declare the forming of a protest" and then we just start. Most experienced officers know thats how it works, but sometimes newbies get all confused and call their superiors.
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 source
Media Bias Fact Check | bot supportSearch topics on Ground.News
https://www.voanews.com/a/kamala-harris-vp-choice-tim-walz-happy-to-be-labeled-a-liberal/7732235.html