Liberals Aren't Leftists

"Leftist" and "liberal" are often used interchangeably, but there's a big difference between the two. The centrist position of liberalism is a status quo that keeps sliding rightward, but the Left wants a fundamentally transformed world. How do we get there?

[jeremyjames]

Liberalism is not centrist, there actually is no such thing it's BS. Liberalism supports capitalism which makes it right-wing. Capitalism is a right-wing authoritarian economic system (there is no democracy in the work-place). It's the liberal right. Liberalism and conservativism are not political opposites. The left is anarchism, socialism, non-authoritarian. Historically right wing is generally the establishment, left wing the working class, the worker struggle etc. This is why they call liberalism "left-wing" because it's not a threat to the authority of the state and its economic system of capital accumilation.

The term left and right came from the French revolution where those who supported the king were his right wing, those that apposed the king (apposed to the authority of the time and wanted liberty) were the left-wing

"As Socialism in general, Anarchism was born among the people; and it will continue to be full of life and creative power only as long as it remains a thing of the people. In our own time Anarchism arose from the same critical and revolutionary protest that called forth Socialism in general" - Peter Kropotkin, anarchist 1842-1921

“The program of liberalism, therefore, if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property, that is, private ownership of the means of production [capitalism]… All the other demands of liberalism result from this fundamental demand.” - Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises

[Barf-soqy]

A leftist and a liberal walk into a bar. The bartender says "so what will you have" the leftist says "I want a peaceful world full of justice" and the liberal says "I'm calling the police!"

[theodorelee]

Very insightful content- thanks for adding to the shamefully short list of results on this topic

[ZuriArtia]

There are two types of liberals.

- Classical Liberals
- Social Liberals

If I had to put it in simple terms, a classical Liberal is a free market capitalist. Social Liberals also advocate to work within the capitalism framework but regulated to a degree. Both are for the capitalist class. Leftists are critical of capitalism as capitalism ultimately funnels more wealth to the few creating an economical hierarchy than a egalitarian society concentrating wealth at the top leaving the common people powerless. Leftists believe it should be replaced with something else ie socialism etc that is moral and just. No right minded actual Leftist would side with a Liberal because Capitalism is a right wing idea that is regressive, reinforces hierarchies, and prevents progress. There is no democracy within Capitalism, it is just a modern form of feudalism.

[ianbarr]

This video is really really good. Thanks Shep!

[bogballzzzz]

i find it very hard to believe your statement that it was more socially acceptable to be perceived as left wing or socialist or communist in the mid 20th century than it is today. the us would even go against democratic principles in order to oppose communism and socialism like in vietnam and latin america, but today many powerful members of government claim to be democratic socialists and are publicly supported by many people who dont seem to be viewed very negatively compared to other political groups in the us

[wpyx]

Hey this was pretty good. Why no updates?

[commiezombie]

Great video but your lighting makes your eyes look demonic. Hope you've upgraded since then😂

[charliewatts]

I'm a American liberal centrist and I do empathize with some left-wing views. In fact for many years I identified with leftist politics. I shifted rightward towards liberalism because I disagree with aspects of current leftist discourse that are too left for my tastes and I view as illiberal. I believe things like labor laws and social programs are good and I would vote for those things if I could. The democrats and certainly progressive politicians though, pander to the demands of far-left rhetoric that I disagree with. I believe enshrining laws around the obsession with identity politics and politically correct culture starts a doom spiral towards the erasure of free speech, and to me, without free speech, you have nothing. It's the single cornerstone of society that nobody should ever budge on, and the obsessions I see in modern cultural discourse normalize censorship over open dialogue, and I can never get behind that. So my perception is the left has moved further left than I am comfortable with and thus alienated me.

I believe that by placing people into identitarian boxes you remove the individual which strips the philosophical foundation away that props up individual rights within the liberal framework. Without that, it's an easy descent into tyranny and even genocide because people are not people, they're just a faceless representative of their identity. Not only that, but it breeds groupthink, which again, destroys us as individuals and prepares us to be told what to think instead of the inverse.

The left needs to stop obsessing over identity politics or it will never retain people like me.