I believe Liberals occupy both ends of the economic spectrum. The Rich and the Poor.
The poor are liberals because they receive and like to continue to receive. The rich are liberals because they want to keep the poor happy with OP money from middle class because history has shown when the poor are unhappy, revolutions happen and rich people die.
So the wealthy and upper middle class extort money from the middle and lower middle class to keep the poor happy in their lazy lives.
Of course this is all metaphorical
So far no one has this right, esp the author, although you are closest.
Liberalism exists because of evil. The power hungry team with the ultrarich to create a society where the laws are created to benefit the ultrarich. The ultrarich put the power hungry in place to do their bidding. The ultrarich benefit the most, the power hungry are rewarded well enough to be incentivized. The poor are given just enough to be kept docile, and everyone else is exploited.
The concept of altruism does not exist in the power structure of liberalism. It is a fantasy that exists only in the minds of useful idiots.
The democratic party is a coalition of Cultural Elitists and Economic Populists while the republican party is a coalition of Economic Elitists and Cultural Populists.
In the 50s/60s the Cultural Elitists took over the dem party and the final battle of that take-over was at the 1968 dem convention in Chicago. In the 70s/80s the republicans brought the cultural populists out of the dem party into the GOP using Nixon's Southern Strategy and this group included Nixon's "Silent Majority" and Reagan's "Moral Majority".
Most of today's intra-party political conflicts are being caused by the breakdown of these two coalitions, especially in the GOP.
In the dem party today, Hillary represents the Cultural Elitists and Elizabeth Warren represents the economic populists. Obama was the consummate democrat because he was both a Cultural Elitist(Harvard educated lawyer) and an Economic Populist(community organizer).
If Sarah Palin(cultural populist) and Elizabeth Warren(economic populist) could somehow join forces on a presidential run for prez in 2016 on a 3rd party, populist platform, they would capture 70% of the popular vote and 95% of the electoral votes.