Allen Esterson wrote: > Oh, dear, the perils of translating from the UK to the US! Do not > conflate the American use of the term "liberal" with what is meant in > Britain by "Liberal".
Although the history of UK's Liberal Democrats has some relevance here, the problem is translating from the actual meaning of the word "liberal" to the way the term is pejoratively flung around in the US. As I have said before on this list, "liberals" are not on the "left" (as though the left-right metaphor, dating from the days immediately following the French Revolution is still terribly informative). Liberals are in the center, as the LibDems are in the UK. (In Canada, legendary Liberal leader Pierre Trudeau once famously defined his party as representing "the radical center, that is to say, the extreme middle"). Social Democrats (historically identified with labor, though not so much anymore) are on the left. The reason "liberal" seems like the "left" in the US, is that the US doesn't have any "left" to speak of (except perhaps Bernie Sanders, independent senator from Vermont, and former mayor of the "People's Republic of Burlington"). It is worth noting that while there are lots of (supposedly "leftist") Democrats in the US who cannot bring themselves to support a "public option" on health care, there is hardly a (supposedly "right") Conservative in all of Western Europe or Canada who would dare to publicly suggest turning the entire health care system over to the private insurance companies. To do so would put their political career at considerable risk. Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================== --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=1267 or send a blank email to leave-1267-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
