>> I'm not convinced these kind of semantic disputes matter. Non-Americans don't typically identify as "libertarian", but that doesn't make it hard to express or describe the idea of being pro-business and anti-regulation.
> The word "liberal" means exactly that - showing preference and deference to private enterprise - in the overwhelming majority of the world, as it refers to economic liberalism.
Except in America, where it took on a somewhat narrower, variant meaning that focuses on "social liberalism."
> Except in America, where it took on a somewhat narrower, variant meaning that focuses on "social liberalism."
Right and you'll find large populations of both Democrats and Republicans fall under the "Socially liberal, fiscally conservative" banner with Democrats generally skewing one way a bit and Republicans the other. But ultimately, both sides headed the same direction just at different speeds and priority.
I think the woke left and MAGA types have made more noise lately and it has disturbed some of the balance we've had the last 70 years where everyone is essentially onboard with the New Deal Regime.
Not really though. We are so immersed in it and the country is so different today than before it that we don't even notice it. We went from a pure capitalist country (where government in large part existed to clear way for capitalist projects and ambitions) to a very managed one with the New Deal. Social safety nets, benefits and entitlements, fiscal and monetary policy, and government "programs"/departments numbering in the hundreds or thousands did not exist before the New Deal.
> The word "liberal" means exactly that - showing preference and deference to private enterprise - in the overwhelming majority of the world, as it refers to economic liberalism.
Except in America, where it took on a somewhat narrower, variant meaning that focuses on "social liberalism."