2 October 2018
First of all, I put quotation marks around “conservatives” and “libertarians” because, while I don’t necessarily agree that every so-called thus-and-so is actually practicing the philosophy he espouses, I generally get where they’re coming from.
Unless you’re following the thread that runs through John Locke and Thomas Jefferson and Calvin Coolidge, or if you’re comparing Vermont’s gun laws to Oregon’s drug laws, or New Hampshire’s income tax to Texas’ zoning laws, or you’re applauding Mohammed Ali’s and Ronald Reagan’s position on conscription, then you maybe don’t actually mean “liberal.” Liberals are generous, open-minded, and predisposed to liberty.
If, on the other hand, you’re complaining about the hectoring scolds in the media, the interfering buttinskies at your local Department of Thumbtacks and Paperclips, or Californian collectivists now mandating the arrangement of genitalia under the big table in the board room, then you really mean “Leftist.”
It’s not precise, but Leftist has weight and history, and the advantage of being a close abbreviation (‘le’t’vist) of “collectivist” which, of course, is what they are.