Liberal Term Confusion

The cluster revolves around debates over the meaning of 'liberal,' distinguishing classical liberalism from modern American progressivism, libertarianism, and leftism, often highlighting US-specific linguistic shifts.

📉 Falling 0.5x Politics & Society
3,158
Comments
19
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#1337
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2008
15
2009
29
2010
54
2011
42
2012
61
2013
124
2014
94
2015
113
2016
260
2017
299
2018
275
2019
186
2020
237
2021
360
2022
308
2023
283
2024
146
2025
255
2026
17

Keywords

US GP crookedtimber.org I.e USA i.e wikipedia.org liberal liberalism liberals libertarian classical left conservatives left leaning wing american

Sample Comments

nl Mar 30, 2018 View on HN

liberal doesn't mean libertarian in the US.

gherkinnn Dec 28, 2019 View on HN

You sound rather liberal, in the literal sense.

airstrike Apr 19, 2018 View on HN

You're mixing up liberal with libertarian.

infinite8s Aug 27, 2010 View on HN

I think by Liberal he meant to say Libertarian

posterman May 8, 2024 View on HN

i think you are getting liberalism and "the left" confused

philwelch Jul 21, 2010 View on HN

I suspect by "liberal" you mean "leftist", though the terms have become conflated in American parlance.

apsec112 Jul 6, 2020 View on HN

Liberal here means classical liberalism, not just "left-wing":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism

makotech222 Dec 1, 2021 View on HN

these are liberals, not leftists

robk May 2, 2016 View on HN

That's called a liberal by American terms

noobermin Jan 30, 2018 View on HN

He probably means liberal as in inspired by classical liberalism. These days, the buzzword for it is neoliberalism.