Political Memes

Then why didn't he say that?

Bc your original comment in its entirety made very little sense. Why would you ask what a liberal grifter is then feel like it's necessary to explain what a liberal is? My guess is that you were just being condescending and now realize you had absolutely no idea what you were talking about.

And not being able to understand your condescending nonsense doesn't make someone a troll. That sounds more like a victim complex and projection cocktail to me.

A lot of people get "liberal" mixed up with "neoliberal," and it would be kinda funny if it wasn't so annoying.

Like, yeah, I get it, "neoliberal" contains the word "liberal." A third grader could figure that out. But "neoliberalism" is a misnomer; there's nothing liberal about it at all. In fact, it's a conservative economic ideology.

Liberalism itself sprung from the humanist tradition and has a long philosophical tradition, but people who have never read classic liberal philosophy think they know what it is.

Of course, it developed in the west, so people associate it with imperialist/colonialist projects. But western philosophy also gave us concepts like human rights, secularism, and the scientific method. Are those things colonialist projects, too?

And yeah, there are some corporate sellout neoliberals on the Democrat side of the aisle. That doesn't make "liberalism" about corporatism, it makes those corporate Dems not really liberal.

Also, lots of republicans are/were neoliberals. Reagan most famously, but also basically every self-declared "fiscal conservative." "Fiscal responsibility" is code for "stinginess," the opposite of "liberality."

"Liberal," on the other hand, in the sense of "generous," means "giving freely." It also comes from the same root as "liberty."

So yeah, a lot of people attack "liberalism" and "liberals" because they get it confused with "neoliberalism." Try to explain the difference and you'll get some tankie accusing you of being an ignorant westerner, or even a fascist, not even grasping the irony that 1), they're revealing their own ignorance about the subject, and 2), liberalism and fascism are mutually opposed to each other.

Of course, when conservatives use "liberal" as an insult, they're talking about progressives, leftists, and anyone else they lump into that category.

I guess there's no winning...