• 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️
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    6 months ago

    The dictionary defines it as:

    1. willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one’s own; open to new ideas.

    2. a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.

    3. relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.

    Where the hell does your definition come from?

    • @TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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      66 months ago

      The third one, but its actually practiced and emphasized in liberal democracies, which is beyond the scope of what dictionary can cover.

      The Wikipedia is going to be the resource you want to use for something like this, not a dictionary.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism

      Modern political liberalism finds its roots in many threads of thought through out history, but its current form is based largely out of the political movements of the late 1700’s. The Declaration of Independence, Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations, and even later works like John Stuart Mill’s Principles would be considered foundational to modern liberalism. Its important to note that this nascent liberalism left out many classes of people from the definition of, you know, people. Specifically, women, first Nations peoples, Africans, etc, were not afforded the freedoms and liberties espoused in documents like the US Constitution or Declaration of Independence. This is important to note, because its a common thread throughout the evolution of liberalism into its current form, that in practice, it makes an effort to split and qualify individuals (as opposed to pursuing universality in its policies). Liberalism is fundamentally about the definition of liberties, and the protection of those liberties from the government. Not just individual liberties like voting, but also property rights, rights of free association, rights of participation, etc. Its incredibly important, however, to point out the massive blind-spots this political philosophy had towards the ‘others’ in society. This aspect of liberalism is just as foundational as its aspirational goals of liberty.

      I think its pretty safe to argue that liberalism is the foundational political identity of the American body politic, in that it underpins both Conservatism (as foil, and thus in turn helps define neoconservatism) and Neoliberalism. American Conservatism is Luigi to American Liberalisms Mario, while Neo-conservatism and Neo-liberalism are Waluigi and Wario, respectively. Liberalism is the main character, and these other works exist almost exclusively through contrast or opposition.

      I think the meme actually makes a good point. But knee-jerk liberals on Lemmy can’t hang.

        • Victor Villas
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          6 months ago

          Neoliberalism is just how social studies people call contemporary liberalism.

          In politics and economics, this is what most people will understand as “liberal”. Not just some vague references to liberty like the dictionary meaning, neither classical liberalism from the 1850’s.

        • seahorse [Ohio]M
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          46 months ago

          Lol. Joe biden is a neoliberal. Hillary clinton is a neoliberal. Al gore, Bill clinton, Barack obama. All neoliberal. No leftist who is anticapitalist (as they should be) will call themselves liberal. That’s just some america-brained shit.

        • @TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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          26 months ago

          Its ridiculous to suggest that neo-liberalism isn’t a direct philosophical extension of liberalism.

          Neoliberalism just focuses on some specifics of liberalism like open markets and property rights, which were already things that traditional liberalism espoused. Its the defacto philosophy of the American body politic after WW2. Things like the IMF, the world bank, the UN, central banks like the federal reserve, the use of rates to manage economies; these are very neoliberal concepts and institutions.

          I think its fine to interchange liberalism and neoliberalism in modern parlance, because they are basically indistinguishable as practiced.