Posted on 12/31/2017 12:48:57 PM PST by Kaslin
>>We shouldn’t call lefties libs because liberty is what OUR side is after. We need to take back the word.
I’ve just been trying to take it back here on FR for years! But too many people stubbornly refuse to understand what “Progressive” means. They get hung up on “progress” but won’t listen to the “progress” that the Progs are talking about. So, our side keeps giving “liberal” back to them.
The problem with conservatism is not just that it doesn’t conserve anything, but also that what it’s trying to conserve is essentially modernism and therefore not worth conserving anywise.
No, FDR disguised the fact that he was a wannabe Communist. There is nothing progressive about the left’s agenda. It’s been tried before many times and always fails.
Before I proceed with my opinion, I just want to say that in my opinion, it’s all true, re: liberal vs conservative, and I fully understand the etymology of the terms and how they changed over time, but here is the problem:
The battle for the language in that respect is over, IMO. Leftists had their way with it before the real liberals caught on in time to fight it, and there is no way to undo it at this point.
It is a battle that I simply don’t think can be fought and won. And all it will do is confuse people and waste our (conservatives) time.
I think everyone has these kinds of battles over certain linguistic aspects in nomenclature and terminology, some we fight, some we simply cut our losses. In my case, liberal-conservative is something I don’t see changing because I don’t think it can be done. For me, conservative in the political arena is the opposite of liberal in that arena, and I know I am against that diametrically opposed thing and everything it stands for.
I have things I have a harder time surrendering on, for example gay-homosexual. So in my personal life, I fight that battle.
The whole liberal-conservative corruption came about long before I really understood the labels, before I was even born. I just don’t see how making that word the battlefield is going to change the issue. I fully agree with the author that caving in has grave consequences all of its own, but I simply think the effort required to reverse it would be huge, and the mental capacity of people to absorb the change is...lacking, to be polite.
I have to agree with your premise.
Here’s a good example and you touched on it.
Which is a more productive point at this point in time?
a. Look at what Liberals have done in the current context, and see if you can buy in.
or
b. The use of the term Liberal is not accurate because, point1, point2, point3, point4,... and look at what Liberals have done in the current context, and see if you can buy in.
To me, a. seems like it is as much as we can ask folks to grasp and buy off on. B. just gets too murky from the get-go.
Even the article indicated my point:
“So they set out to overthrow it little by little, progressively.”
That is the true meaning - but conveniently, “progressive” has another meaning, which is what the commies want everyone to think. That it’s nice because it’s “getting better”.
ALIBERAL
Properly, aliberal is the clear term.
Just as the opposite of a theist is an atheist.
The opposite of a liberty loving liberal, is an aliberal.
Spread it.
>>I just don’t see how making that word the battlefield is going to change the issue.
I just believe that words mean things.
I agree with you 100%.
I simply don’t think the meaning can be changed at this point, that’s all.
Trying to get fellow Freepers to understand an issue, if it can’t be boiled down to a few sentences is often fruitless.
If you have to take more than two sentences to get someone to change nowadays, even on Free Republic, their eyes glaze over. And they often want to agree.
Try it on someone who doesn’t want to change their view or doesn’t care.
I just don’t think it is worth the monumental effort. I would cut my losses on it.
I think, for me, is to just change my use of the word "Liberal" and use "Leftist" instead, and will start from today, beginning with my tagline that previously said: "Liberals: American Liberty is the egg that requires breaking to make their Utopian omelette."
and will instead say:
"Leftists: American Liberty is the egg that requires breaking to make their Utopian omelette."
And I will forgo the use of the term "liberal" when I am speaking of leftists...:)
I just believe that words mean things.>>I just don’t see how making that word the battlefield is going to change the issue. - rlmorel
I just have to agree. I know that the cause is in a sense hopeless, but I hold out on using scare quotes around “liberal” when I use the word. The same should also go for “progressive” as well - in reality socialism is reactionary against the liberal principles of the Republic.Socialists are cynical about society, and - concommitantly - naive about government. The true liberal - the so-called conservative - is skeptical enough of society to support some government, and skeptical enough of government to want to see it on a tight leash.
As the article pointed out, conservatives everywhere conserve local traditions - local tradion in America is “to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity;” elsewhere local tradition is quite otherwise.
Great post.
The word “progressive” implies progress. Calling yourself “smart” doesn’t make you smart. Calling yourself “progressive” doesn’t mean you make progress or are in favor of it.
“Regressive” would be more accurate. “Totalitarian”, “statist”, “power-hungry maniac” would be even more accurate.
>>The same should also go for “progressive” as well - in reality socialism is reactionary against the liberal principles of the Republic.
Do you understand why they use the word “Progressive”? Progress is reactionary. Evolution is reactionary. Just about any change is reactionary.
I never use “liberal” or “progressive” to speak of these collectivists.
Most people who identify as conservative are really traditionalist/nationalists/patriots. They’re not the people you find in the conservative think tanks, but they are the people trying to raise their kids well, support American troops, and trying to prevent the Marxist left from destroying this nation.
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