Its not just the left. Too ofthen, those on the right (usually boomercons) will say something like "those darn liberals" and actually mean leftists. I see it on this site all the time.
That's why I try to be careful in my choice of words. If I actually mean a left-libertarian (what "liberal" used to mean in American politics) I'll actually specify that. Otherwise, if I say liberal and mean classical liberalism or right-libertarianism, I'll say that too.
This is the result of Roosevelt and Hoover stripping the word "Liberal" from it's meaning while the terms "Socialist" and "Communist" were seen as utterly unacceptable.
Hoover was an interventionist and a Corporatist. However, FDR attacked him for being too interventionist and spending too much money. He framed himself as a Liberal.
He then proceeded to act as effectively a Democratic Socialist, and every single thing he did was called "Liberal". Not only that, but the Leftwing narrative completely turned history around and claimed that Hoover didn't intervene at all.
In the span of 15 years, the Left dominated so much of the cultural apparatuses and institutions that they re-defined the word Liberal. This narrative was so well accepted that Goldwater used the term "Conservative" to effectively define what it meant to be Classically Liberal, rather than trying to undermine and re-take the term.
Its not just the left. Too ofthen, those on the right (usually boomercons) will say something like "those darn liberals" and actually mean leftists. I see it on this site all the time.
That's why I try to be careful in my choice of words. If I actually mean a left-libertarian (what "liberal" used to mean in American politics) I'll actually specify that. Otherwise, if I say liberal and mean classical liberalism or right-libertarianism, I'll say that too.
This is the result of Roosevelt and Hoover stripping the word "Liberal" from it's meaning while the terms "Socialist" and "Communist" were seen as utterly unacceptable.
Hoover was an interventionist and a Corporatist. However, FDR attacked him for being too interventionist and spending too much money. He framed himself as a Liberal.
He then proceeded to act as effectively a Democratic Socialist, and every single thing he did was called "Liberal". Not only that, but the Leftwing narrative completely turned history around and claimed that Hoover didn't intervene at all.
In the span of 15 years, the Left dominated so much of the cultural apparatuses and institutions that they re-defined the word Liberal. This narrative was so well accepted that Goldwater used the term "Conservative" to effectively define what it meant to be Classically Liberal, rather than trying to undermine and re-take the term.