that’s only partly true:
economically liberal indeed means free markets and capitalism (this is why the australian conservative party is called the Liberal party)
however liberalism as a whole includes individual rights like human and civil rights, secularism, etc (this is what the US tends to define as liberal)
it’s an overloaded and imperfect term for our current global political cultures
similar applies to left and right wing:
the left are supporters of change and generally change that supports less fortunate and leads to less social hierarchy
what both these things have in common is that liberal and left wing are about change and new ideas, whilst conservative and right wing are about maintaining the status quo (or as is more currently the case, regressing to a previous status quo)
WHARRGARBL@beehaw.org 2 weeks ago
Thanks! It sounds like “liberal” in this thread is what I’ve always called neoliberal, and “leftist” is what’s known as democratic socialism?
anlumo@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Depends on how far you want to go left. On the more extreme side, these people want to abolish capitalism entirely and replace it with a communal system (workers owning the means of production). Democratic socialism is a very moderate form where capitalism is kept, but people get a fair chance of living in the system (usually through monetary assistance), no matter what family they come from and what their abilities are.
FunderPants@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
I think you’re confusing social democracy with democratic socialism. The first is as you say, and has huge overlap with liberalism, left liberalism, and progressive liberalism.
The second is achieving socialism through democratic means, without the need to overthrow government as once was believed to be entirely nessecary.