Maybe it would help some if first we agree on what's being discussed. If there's a need for balance and equity a discussion of how best to achieve that is top priority. But I think some people confuse liberal with far left, or maybe they have not paid enough attention to the facts or maybe the far right had obscured, in the very least, the definition and if all you do is consume hate speech . . . well, as the saying goes, you are what you eat.
Here's the accepted definition of Liberal. . . If this defines liberal, i'm a liberal. . .
I'll highlight this exert for those that wont or dont care to read the entire definition.
"The first liberal state was the United States of America[14], founded on the principle that "all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to insure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."[15]"
Here's the full text from wikipedia:
Liberalism is a broad class of political philosophies that considers individual liberty and equality to be the most important political goals.[1]
Liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. Within liberalism, there are various streams of thought which compete over the use of the term "liberal" and may propose very different policies, but they are generally united by their support for constitutional liberalism, which encompasses support for: freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, an individual's right to private property,[2] and a transparent system of government.[3][4][5] All liberals, as well as some adherents of other political ideologies, support some variant of the form of government known as liberal democracy, with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law.[6]
Liberalism appears in two broad forms: Classical liberalism, which emphasizes the importance of individual liberty, and contemporary liberalism which emphasizes some kind of material equality.[7] Those who identify themselves as classical liberals, to distinguish themselves from social liberals, oppose all government regulation of business and the economy, with the exception of laws against force and fraud, and support free market laissez-faire capitalism. In Europe, the term "liberalism" is closer to the economic outlook of American economic conservatives.[8] In the United States, "liberalism" is most often used in the sense of modern liberalism, which supports some regulation of business and other economic interventionism which they believe to be in the public interest. They tend to support a welfare state[5], a government-imposed minimum wage, laws against discrimination in hiring, and affirmative action.[9][5]
Modern liberalism has its roots in the Age of Enlightenment and rejects many foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, established religion, and economic protectionism.[10][11][12] Liberals argued that economic systems based on free markets are more efficient and generate more prosperity.[13]
The first liberal state was the United States of America[14], founded on the principle that "all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to insure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."[15] This said, much of early liberal thought originated in and influenced the politics of The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France.
