[Vivitron]

Originally Posted by Jimjam [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I have a colleague from a relatively privileged background in middle England asked why ‘liberal’ is used as a dirty word in the states.

He is confused how the dictionary definition of liberal (social welfare, freedoms, open business) could be a bad thing in the country of liberty.

I’m lucky enough to had the opportunity to witness discussion from such honourable ‘lib hatin merkins’ as populate the p99 game and boards so did my best to offer an answer:

“Personally, I believe in the value of social programs. Not particularly due to morale or welfare arguments, but because I believe they are effective economic investments.

However, I feel many people that support such programs can be a little tone deaf or condescending (“why can’t people against these programs see they would be better off”) and fail to understand why someone that would benefit from it could be against it.

I’m involved in a computer game community which happens to include a good number of rural Americans, people that I never would have normally been able to converse with.

From my discussions with them, and from my knowledge of the emotional effects of unemployment from my company partner’s doctorate, these people are not interested in being financially better off due to social hand outs. They want real employment and economic opportunities, similar to how there used to be industrial and agricultural opportunity previously in the states. They don’t want to be non-contributors dependant on subsidies from blue city taxes. They want to be independent and in control of their lives.

For this reason, rightly or wrongly, they conflate liberal social welfare with a suppression of their ability to support themselves as individuals.”

I hope i put forward a decent, good faith representation for at least some ‘lib haters’ and was hoping you can either call me out if i am totally off the mark, or provide additional reasoning why some view ‘lib’ as a dirty word.

Please keep it civil and clean.

What you describe of "liberal" is a closer fit to the Bush-Clinton era ideologically driven policy dispute. People who disagreed with the liberals* did use the word with a negative connotation, but I don't think that captures what you see today.

These days when I see "the libs" used I usually see it in the context of our culture war. The way this culture war is played is you round up some of the worst examples of people or behavior that you can associate with other side of the political/cultural aisle, and tar them with it as if it fully represents them. So "the libs" is an insult because it's a phrase that you use when you talk about how the libs are burning down their cities and taking your guns.

*Even there, "liberal" usually meant Democrats, or more specifically the less centrist Democrats, and did not necessarily match the definition of liberal used in other contexts.