What's the difference between a "liberal" and a "leftist," if there is one...

[Douglas Carpenter]

11. I would tend to follow the classic European model in defining those terms

Although the steady drift to the right even in left-wing European parties has altered the meanings of such words over time.

Traditionally in Europe on the right you had the conservative parties supported by business interest. On the left you had the socialist parties supported by the unions. In the middle you had the liberals who were pro-business and pro-capitalist but who believed in a certain amount of socialist type social reform. Classically, although it is no longer really the case, the socialist or leftist held as an eventual goal the complete social ownership and democratic control of production and economy -while liberals supported a permanent capitalist system tempered by social reform.

Since very few people any longer support the complete social ownership and democratic control of production and economy - really almost all so-called leftist are now in fact liberals. If there is any difference left at all - it is purely in theory – does one have a class analysis of how society operates. Does one agree with Marx that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle”. If they do agree with that statement then they probably can be defined as a leftist. If however they believe that capitalism with its many imperfections is still the best of all possible systems –as long as it is properly reformed and regulated – then they are probably a liberal.