For the longest time, “liberal” seemed like it basically just meant “Democrat” the same way “conservative” has/had been used to mean “Republican.” Now, it seems like it means “bad Democrat” and is even worse than being MAGA the way many seem to use it. Where did its use as an insult within the [relative] political left come from, and what does it specifically accuse/identify someone of/as?
Using liberal as a derogatory says far more about the person saying it, than it does about those they say it about.
db2@lemmy.world 3 months ago
It means “anyone who doesn’t immediately agree with anything I say/repeat” in magaspeak.
ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
I think OP’s question is about why parts of the Democratic coalition are hostile to those they call liberals, not about why Republicans are hostile to Democrats.
cabbage@piefed.social 3 months ago
If a self-proclaimed "part of the Democratic coalition" is dismissing whatever arguments you make by weirdly comparing you to John Locke as a slur, chances are they are they are not, in fact, part of the Democratic coalition. The fact that they are borrowing their slurs from the conventional fascists should be telling enough.
They might even share employer.
XeroxCool@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Because something that gets lost in the two party system is that, at its core, there’s the conservative side trying to make things best for their majority group and then there’s a dozen different types of liberals trying to make the world better in their direction. One side wants to revert back, one “side” is pulling in a hundred different directions. Should we tackle education first? Financial responsibility? Human rights? Social safety nets? Pollution? Climate change? National interest? Global interest? There’s so many different topics that liberals want to progress forward in an order each individual determines. It’s not a single liberal force, it’s a hundred forces in a trench coat. Conservatives (of any country or topic) are some kind of incumbent majority/dominating demographic while the alternatives all fall under “liberal”. So the only thing that consistently unifies the democrats is what they don’t like
barsquid@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Funny how it means the same thing in .ml instances.