What does liberal even mean?

[white_wolf]

Could someone please tell me what liberal and progressive mean? I have seen it used by a lot of people both on this forum and in real life that have very different views. Some of the people on this forum who call themselves liberals seem as right-wing as the DLC while some seem like social-democrats. So, could someone please help me figure out what the words liberal and progressive mean?

[FarLeftFist]

1. All Progressives are also Liberals but not all Liberals are Progressives.

Hope that cleared it up.

[TheWraith]

2. About as clear as mud, I'd say.

In my opinion though, I don't see a lot of difference between "liberal" and "progressive" except that--in my opinion--calling yourself a "progressive" sounds like a way of weaseling out of using the word "liberal."

[msongs]

3. dictionaries are your friend :-) nt

[leveymg]

4. Liberal was the middling sort of term progressives accepted when "progressive" had Red connotations

Today, the Cold War and McCarthyism were so long ago, nobody much worries about being associated with the Left. The Left is the last man standing in the Bar with any credibility - "Gonzo", as the Irish say.

The Liberals have some very bad associations with Neo-liberal economics, which is 1 percent globalism. I wouldn't want to be called one.

[Kennah]

5. Ask a conservative

Whichever word pisses them off the most, is probably the proper one to use.

[Skittles]

6. Liberals care for more than just themselves

[provis99]

7. liberal, conservative, reactionary, progressive,

none of these have agreed upon definitions.

Essentially, a liberal is someone who calls themself a liberal.

[Festivito]

8. What do Conservatives conserve? Nothing that I've found. /nt

[white_wolf]

9. Their own money and power? n/t

[Festivito]

15. True. Conservative then means nothing they'll admit when asked. /nt

[banned from Kos]

10. I am a liberal and Wikipedia nails it

Liberalism (from the Latin liberalis, "of freedom")<1> is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights.<2> Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but most liberals support such fundamental ideas as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights, capitalism, free trade, and the freedom of religion.<3><4><5><6><7> These ideas are widely accepted, even by political groups that do not openly profess a liberal ideological orientation. Liberalism encompasses several intellectual trends and traditions, but the dominant variants are classical liberalism, which became popular in the eighteenth century, and social liberalism, which became popular in the twentieth century.

[warrior1]

11. What JFK said:

http://ellemay.wordpress.com/2006/10/18/what-jfk-said-about-being-a-liberal-and-the-us-being-worth-of-our-power/

…if by a “Liberal” they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a “Liberal,” then I’m proud to say I’m a “Liberal.”- John F. Kennedy, September 14, 1960

[DesertRat]

13. I posted the same thing right after you did

Great minds and all.... :-)

[DesertRat]

12. A Liberal Definition by John F. Kennedy

A Liberal Definition by John F. Kennedy:
Acceptance Speech of the New York
Liberal Party Nomination

September 14, 1960

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

read the entire speech here:
http://www.liberalparty.org/JFKLPAcceptance.html

[Marr]

14. I can tell you what it's not. Anyone who pushes trickle-down economics.

And the Democratic Party's establishment, particularly the White House, constantly uses supply-side frames and vocabulary.