Why do people mistake leftists for liberals?

[Anonymous]

See the difference.

Causes leftists support:

Workers.
Taxing the billionaires and extremely rich.
Wealth distribution.
Universal healthcare.
Free education.
Pardoning student debt.
Welfare benefits for the poor and the impoverished middle class.
Borders.
Multipolarity in international relations.
The struggle of the Palestinian people against apartheid in the same way we supported the Black people's struggle in South Africa.

Causes leftists DON'T support:

Capitalism, woke or not.
Big corporations.
IDpol.
Performative wokeness.
Political correctness.
US imperialism/liberal hegemony.
Zionism.
Putting black people's feelings/resentment above everyone's wellbeing.
Religious bullshit.
The Military Industrial Complex.
Lobbies.
Vax mandates.

(Or any other neoliberal/neoconservative cause or form of activism)

For that reason, real leftists are hated by both liberals and conservatives.

[humanearth]

I don't see a difference, Both groups to me look the same and both out to kill a country though regulation and attacking the rich. When ideally, the rich already pay 40% of the USA taxes and the poor pay less than 20%. They are ready being screwed up the ass.

If you really cared about people paying their fair share, then Every God dam citizen should pay a flat tax rate for everyone. Say like everyone pays 20% of their gross income to taxes for every USA citizen.

Now don't that sound a lot more fair

[RolandCuthbert]

Dude you made up those definitions. When I hear the word leftist, I think of supporters of communism and of communist states. I would say this, we agree in some areas, communists absolutely detest capitalism, but can't show how their system is any better.

[Asker]

"but can't show how their system is any better."

Don't worry, the Chinese Century will show you how socialism is better than the system we have.

[RolandCuthbert]

That has nothing to do with socialism. China is just another type of dictatorship. The thing that is hilarious is they employ capitalistic principles in some areas of their economy.

China has the largest population in the world. And the only reason why they are not the biggest economy is because they believe people need to be controlled.

[OddBeMe]

Conservatives aren't righties. They're peace loving, small govt pols. Not forcing women to have babies they don't want.

See politics is complex. Left and right are perspective political positions, or nouns. Liberal and conservative are adjectives. Do liberals and leftists go hand in hand? Most times.

[Asker]

"Do liberals and leftists go hand in hand? Most times."

No.

[Asker]

" left does fall into liberal territory."

You just showed you know nothing about leftism to make such a moronic claim. Neither Karl Marx nor the social democrats were pro-liberalism, let alone Soviet/Chinese/African leftists, they (correctly) associated liberalism with Anglo imperialism and bourgeois values.

[Asker]

Bye, neoliberal. Your stupid opinions belong to the trash can of this site.

[Asker]

Don't ever bother commenting, white bitch.

[Asker]

Removed. Try again white bitch.

[Asker]

White bitches b mad.

[OddBeMe]

So i know the Commie party over there hates complex thought, but left and right has many shades of gray.

[Asker]

To be a reactionary isn't the proper way to engage in complex thinking. Neoliberals = reactionaries = enemies of the people.

[OddBeMe]

chinese commies = reactionaries.

But we can still talk about gray areas right? You think there's gray area when it comes to politics?

[Asker]

Chinese commies = revolutionaries. Fixed it for you.

"You think there's gray area when it comes to politics?"

There are things that can't be compromised as leftism is incompatible with the neoliberal agenda and vice versa.

[OddBeMe]

why can't it be compromised?

[Asker]

For the same reason leftism can't be compromised with conservative talking points. It's mutually incompatible.

[OddBeMe]

so there are no centrists who have liberal and conservative beliefs?

[Asker]

Centrists are not leftists.

[OddBeMe]

what if they lean left but have some conservative opinions?

[Asker]

It depends. Do their conservative opinions go against some Left's core issues (workers rights, socialism, anti-capitalism, anti-US imperialism)? If yes, they should see themselves as centrists.

[OddBeMe]

your ideas of labels are stricter than other people's. And if they don't share your views you are by definition wrong about their labels.

[Asker]

There are lots of leftists with "conservative" ideas. Lots of leftists favor strong borders for example, which apparently is a common ground between us and conservatives.

But in reality it isn't. Leftists defend strong borders because we must protect workers rights and not drive wages down, whereas conservatives favor strong borders just because they don't like foreigners.

It can happen that leftists and rightists defend common objectives, but the reasons will be always different. I see very few possibilities for a leftist to find a common grown with neoliberals though.

[OddBeMe]

Just know your ideas of left and right are pretty unique. Politics are more complex than that, buddy. Not so black and white.

[Anonymous]

Because the meaning of the political words change over time so they could confuse people. You have to keep up with the definition that's how language works definitions adefinitions are always changing it just happens more in political because they don't want to be associated with words that have bad feelings associated to them.

[Rangers]

Cause there's not much of a difference, socialists and democrats are just as insane as eachother and vote together. Simply calling yourself something different doesn't make you special

[Asker]

Conservatards like you have more in common with liberals that leftists do.

[Cubus]

Because in USA liberal and leftist is mostly the same. That's why Americans believe in all countries it looks like this.

[EnglishEuropean]

It's odd because I consider myself a liberal but according to you I have leftist beliefs. Discuss.

[Anonymous]

Liberals used to mean people who want freedom but it seems the left hijacked it to change its definition.

[rabbitzzz]

"Free education"
Bruh, nothing in this world is free. Except saudi oil.

[Asker]

This is just conservative cope. Of course education isn't "free," it's subsidized by the government with the money it collects from people who can pay taxes.