The word "liberal" has been through a lot. Since I first came into political consciousness in the '80s, liberals have been ludicrously demonized by the right. At a certain point, I began using "progressive" instead as it seemed more contemporary and carried less baggage. These days, it seems that the concept of liberalism is often conflated with neoliberalism -- which is not, in fact, liberalism at all. To the extent that some socially-liberal people are unconcerned with the excesses of capitalism and economic inequality, I would argue that means they are insufficiently liberal or, more accurately, conservative — although that word has also become somewhat meaningless in an era of extremism.
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