Democrats -Which Label Do You Prefer?

[Frodo]

Now that more Democrats are comfortable describing themselves as 'liberal' (obviously in the post-war American context), are you comfortable with it also?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I've often considered myself fairly moderate, but I can't really sum up my views in one word.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Liberal (before Republicans made it a curse word) meant the same thing Libertarian is supposed to mean (before Tea Party morons hijacked that ideology).

Progressive means being liberal on social issues.  Since I am somewhere in the middle on economic issues, I would say progressive is a better description for me.

Liberal (international definition, not the retarded american one): Gary Johnson

Progressive: Both Gary Johnson and Bernie Sanders (most democrats fall somewhere in between these two).

[Niemeyerite]

Progressive.

[Donerail]

Liberal (in the classical sense of course).

[TNF]

Liberal.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I consider myself a moderate, but I'm fine to be called a liberal or a progressive.

[Frodo]

I have my quirks, but in the end I am still a liberal Democrat.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Socialist or leftist.

[Cryptic]

I consider myself a Liberal in the American sense of the term.  Probably something close to a Social Democrat in European terms.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Progressivism is my profound philosophical orientation. Social-Democracy is the ideology I find myself closer to.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Liberal

I think people need to get over the "omg liberal meant something different 100 years ago!"

Liberal as an ideology means progressive change.. radical change.. to both the economy and society.  That is the underlying meaning of liberalism.  The policies liberals promote will change drastically as time goes on in order to address the changing issues that face us.  And those policies promoted by liberals will generally seek to improve quality of life while maintaining individual liberties.

A lot of people seeking to define liberalism as some libertarian ideology of old do so looking through the 20/20 vision of hindsight.  Liberals in the early 19th century didn't actually oppose regulation of business.  They had never faced the poisonous pollution of all the factories being built.  And they were entering uncharted territory in government involvement in the economy.

Their initial reluctance to embrace the regulations that reduced pollution was not a liberal position, but a conservative one.

As time went on, the progressive liberals in the early 20th century exposed the wrongdoings of business vis a vis the muckrakers.

When confronted with an issue for the first time, you cannot just use the definition of a pre-existing ideology to come up with a solution.

In the end, the issue will be dealt with.. and liberals will be more willing to embrace change and radical action than skeptical conservatives who will look to more tried and true methods of dealing with the new issue.

So yes, I am a liberal in the true sense of the word.  It is an evolving term that changes over time as the issues change.

[politicus]

Liberal

I think people need to get over the "omg liberal meant something different 100 years ago!"

Liberal as an ideology means progressive change.. radical change.. to both the economy and society.  That is the underlying meaning of liberalism.  The policies liberals promote will change drastically as time goes on in order to address the changing issues that face us.  And those policies promoted by liberals will generally seek to improve quality of life while maintaining individual liberties.

Its more that Liberal has a different meaning in most of the rest of the world making the US use of the term a little odd. The term libertarian is not widely used outside the US and internationally most people would use liberal(istic) instead. The liberal/libertarian dichotomy is somewhat artificial.

Anyway, what you describe as a liberal approach I would call progressivism.
A radical and liberal approach to society is not the same thing. Liberalism as an ideoogy is actually quite well defined unlike Conservatism, that is more of a general approach to society and culture.

[Franzl]

I think people need to get over the "omg liberal meant something different 100 years ago!"

As politicus said, the meaning of the word hasn't changed. It's very much understood to (economically) mean right-wing in most places.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I consider myself a moderate, but I'm fine to be called a liberal or a progressive.

Thats exactly it. I'm a progressive centrist.