When did Progressives start calling themselves Liberals?
Possibly the 1930s. During that time,anybody who didn't support the New Deal was considered a conservative.This included men who considered themselves liberals(like H.L. Mencken and Albert Jay Nock),men who considered themselves conservatives(well,obviously,men like Robert McCormick and the southern agrarians),and even progressives(Father Coughlin and John T. Flynn).Progressives began calling themselves liberals around the same time.
Why do the Liberals call themselves "Progressives" instead of Socialist or Communist?
Progressive party is an offshoot of the communist party of America. Why are they not justhonest about who they really are? Progressive towards what? Socialism? Communism? If those types of people would ever pick up a history book, they would learn why and HOW that does not work. In the begining, the colonies where forced to operate like a socialistic society. Basically, share the wealth. Everyone was to share thier crop or livestock with the other. There was NO incentives to do better. Capitalism has always prevailed.
Why do Democrats call themselves "progressive" or "liberal"?
I really like the interpretations by "Donald C".and by Aristotle's Daughter.......... Obama has changed the party it is not as we have known it. I am a Union Steel Worker and have been since I was 18. I have never voted republican in my life, and I tried hard to understand Obama, and to see what direction he wants take this country. I cant figure this guy out. His stance on everything changes depending on who he is talking too. He wont take a hard core stance on anything, he was very against guns once now he loves them......He hated N.A.F.T.A now he loves it, no wait he hates it......I cant vote for a guy because he has a "Rockstar" Image or because he said the magic word "Change" .... I really wonder what these supporters of his are seeing that is so F'N great about him. Can people really be so shallow and not see the gimmick ? Basically this man has done nothing for anyone but the poor and the minority........And that seems to still be his main focus. Yeah he promises a bunch of stuff, but he doesn't even begin to explain how he will accomplish these things..............I call that the difference between a dream and a plan. A plan has details it is thought through. A dream sounds good, but its just a dream without any plan or action........My point is Obama has no plan period, just a gimmick allot of shallow promises, catchy phrases, and flashy words. No hard facts or details...
When did the American communists start calling themselves "Progressives?" And why the name change?
That charge is only levelled by people who would rather be inflammatory than intelligent. There were communists in America for sure, but it became obvious that liberal capitalism was the best system when Bill Clinton, a liberal CAPITALIST, led the US to the greatest economic growth spurt that the world has ever seen before or since. Europe and Japan did NOT share America's tremendous growth spurt at the time. I read in college that most uneducated working poor were conservative. I didn't understand it before I saw so many here on Y!A that don't know what socialism is. I saw on the O'Reilly Factor within that last week that over 60% of Americans don't know that we have a capitalist system. I'm different from uneducated working poor. I can think for myself. Although I lean liberal on some issues, the best explanation for Clinton's fantastic growth is that we found the right balance between the left and the right at the time. America was more conservative economically than Japan or Europe.
Why are so many American conservatives now calling themselves "classical liberals?"
There is a substantial portion of our polity that still believe in liberalism. Unfortunately, they can’t call themselves liberals any more. That went away in the FDR administration, when the Progressives somehow managed to fool the populace into thinking their far-right views (often considerably farther right that the Republicans) were “liberal.” The Progressive movement is still very much popular and still being called liberal, even though they are solidly opposed to liberalism.The issue of gun rights is an easy one to use as a litmus test. Liberalism requires the Second Amendment be taken very seriously, and liberals would, if in power, be rolling back many of the regulations on the books, including much of the National Firearms Act of 1934.If that one doesn’t get you, try a few other popular topics:The liberals’ minimum wage is $0. Minimal business and banking regulations. Minimal environmental laws. Of course, they were out front in the gay marriage movement, are loathe to support overseas military operations, are generally pro-choice on abortion rights, and have a strong tendency to oppose drug laws.To Progressives this looks “conservative,” because it’s similar to the way the US operated in the 19th century, but the Progressives have a rather warped prism through which they peer.
If you are identified as a progressive, is being called a "liberal" not accurate or offensive in some way?
Thanks for the A2A.I have issues with the word liberal quite frankly, because moderate-conservatives, who do not identify themselves as such, often will say "I am a classic liberal".The term liberal in its original 19th century construct died just before World War I. To complain that "liberal" has changed its meaning or that you are using a relatively archaic definition of the word makes as much sense as saying you support the concept of Civil Rights based upon the 1877 definition of the term or you are using the title secretary on its pre-WWII usage. It's cute but quite frankly inaccurate in any modern usage.When I say progressive (or liberal), I most often use it to describe my views on an issue rather than an umbrella definition.