I will not Call you "Liberal" anymore if you are a Collectivist.

[Animal]

From now on, I will not call people 'liberals' if they

- Get on their knees to worship other people in masses
- Support killing people and damaging personal property in riots
- Support censoring right wing voices (or any other manner of interfering with free speech)
- Call you 'racist' if you disagree with them
- Want big government
- Want USA to be more socialist, more government controlled
- Rail against the free market
- Want to take guns away from citizens

The constitution proposes that we have a right to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' - a lifestyle supported by free speech, gun rights, and protecting citizens from an overreaching government. A true conservative would want to 'conserve' these principles and would be slow to amend them, whereas a true liberal would promote individual liberty, specifically. They may promote change by fighting for the rights of the oppressed, to aim for a world where we can all enjoy those same liberties. But they would not censor the dissent, kill people in riots, and intimidate people who disagree with their methods and ideology. Being liberal in America means prioritizing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I consider myself a 'liberal' in the truest sense of the world - a classical liberal - which most people think of as 'libertarians.' But since that vocabulary can be confusing, I'll simply call myself a libertarian. Additionally, I will no longer call people liberals if they do not promote individual liberty over collectivism.

I have no desire to censor collectivists, but I just don't support you guys coopting the word "liberal" when you are anything but -- so I'll just stop buying into it.

And while it's tempting to focus on the most offensive people and call them "communists" or "fascists," I will give everyone the benefit of the doubt and instead call you "collectivists." That is a neutral term which I think covers the ideology that I'm not on board with, although I am always willing and eager to LISTEN to your arguments, and to think about compromise.

When it comes to 'right vs left,' 'republican vs democrat,' I am not devoted to either side. I always choose the party whose policies promote libertarianism, in my view. If either party becomes too collectivist, taking responsibility away from the individual and giving it to a big government, then I will not be on board with that party. Right now, I interpret the Democrats as being more collectivist - so I lean more in favor of Republicans. But that could change on a dime depending on who I perceive expanding and overreaching more, and who I perceive promoting individual liberties, small businesses, and property rights.

[Full_fathom]

This is deep. I have many feelings around these things but they are held at bay, both fearful of reacting others and wondering if anyone would care anyway. Our zeitgeist, where any single opinion no longer holds meaning, but a collective drunkenness reels in every opportunity to remain blind to its cause. That's our world, extremes. It almost seems like a socio-political evolution. Both chaotic and foregone, until it reorganizes into.....

[Animal]

On this forum, don't hesitate to unleash your feelings and thoughts. We are individualists here. There aren't many places where individuals can think for themselves without major backlash, but we're striving to create and uphold that place. There are already brainwashed monolithic echo chamber "safe spaces" everywhere else..not here.

[Full_fathom]

I think what's difficult is that the current generation of collective youthfulness is without context. It sees only one history, and whatever history hasn't been adsorbed is primed to be neglected or tossed aside, as that history was already taught to have been selfish or purposefully evil. In short, our youth is the most dogmatic ever., they turn those ideas into anger toward the people here and now. They are students of control, not of a simple philosophy, when can we become rhetorically critical of their method without 'wounding' their delicate souls? Like any infantile mob mentality, I guess it's only happy when it gets the bottle. Of course I react against these things, group action is disgusting to me. Just be a good person.

I don't mean this to become a philosophical rabbit-hole in and of itself, it's just that within the current regime, the simple act of living has become so identified with correctness, a living that is eerily similar or fashioned wrt previous identities of 'correctness' that used all sorts of means to justify themselves. As if, what begins as an inherently good thought eventually manifests itself to an illness of overshooting its intent. I'll end there, maybe pick it up again later.

[Princess of Hearts]

Collectivist, that's a good word.
I'm not very political, also not American so I'm not too deeply familiar with your politics. But I definitely know that people/so called liberals on the internet can be absolutely psycho
It's like they have an exact script of acceptable responses to any given situation and I'm constantly scratching my head at the fact that those people are supposed to be liberal, collectivist sounds like a great way to put it from my (admittedly limited) experience.

[Animal]

Haha, that's pretty much my assessment too. Unfortunately, I live in New York so I am surrounded by them all my life. These people are the ones I grew up with. They constantly scold, lecture, insult and unfriend me on facebook for stepping outside of their memorized script. It's a shit show.