Is there any difference between a leftist and a liberal?

Depends on where you live.
In Germany, a “liberal” is what you would call a “neoliberal”, meaning a proponent of cut-throat capitalism. You could also call them “libertarian”.

@ragingloli: “In Germany, a “liberal” is what you would call a “neoliberal”, meaning a proponent of cut-throat capitalism.”

It’s essentially the same here in the US as well. Liberals do not oppose structures or see them as the problem. (“We’re capitalists, and that’s just the way it is” – Pelosi)

There is very little overlap between liberals and the left regarding economics, imperialism, etc.

Neither term is as easily defined as some would have you believe. Any attempt to absolutely pigeonhole one or the other is doomed to failure.

@hello321
Considering how many people equate the term “liberal” with “communist”, I would doubt that.

It depends on who you are talking to. I don’t see a lot of difference. Leftists are liberal and liberals are leftists.

This question is like asking, “What’s the difference between exactly and precisely?”.
Most people use the two terms interchangeably. But technically the two terms mean different aspects of a system, or analyzer or machine functions over time.

A liberal is someone who thinks the problem with the fact that 1% of the population controls a majority of the country’s wealth is that more of them aren’t women of color.

Personally, I see “liberal” being used quite broadly, to mean neoliberal, Democrat, leftist, hippie…it’s vague and has a wide variety of meanings to refer to anyone left of Mussolini. Most self-identified “leftists” I encounter resent the term “liberal”.

@ragingloli: “Considering how many people equate the term “liberal” with “communist”, I would doubt that.”

This was a specific propaganda technique the right employed to shift the overton window and disappear any leftist thought from US discourse. Democrats employing right-wing economic policies and imperialist aggression can be smeared as “communist” because that term still carries weight among the uneducated in the US.

Most of the real disagreement in the US occurs between the left and liberals. Dems and Reps in the US agree on most things, but performatively disagree about minutia and so-called “culture war” issues. This presents the public with the illusion of choice.

@gondwanalon – Considering that liberals and leftists (or whatever term you want to apply to these people) hold dramatically different positions on the most consequential issues, it would seem counterproductive for you to consider them synonyms. Doesn’t that hinder your understanding?

“Liberal” seems to be the term that those who consider themselves leftist like to throw at people they don’t care for.

^ Or there is utility in using two different terms to describe different ideologies. Language is a tool.

Oh, please. Both terms are very flexible and general. Please share with us what metric you use to define them.

How about a liberal as someone who believes the system can be adapted to mitigate inequalities, whereas the leftist thinks the system is DESIGNED such that inequalities are required and must accumulate.

@canidmajor: “Both terms are very flexible and general.”

Well, then we need to come up with different terms if you don’t like those.

In college, we were most definitely not allowed to conflate the two.

You’re right, though. Without specifics, we’re unlikely to come up with any agreement on the distinction.

@stanleybmanly – Very good start, for sure.

@hello321 If what you say is correct then my understanding of words liberal and leftist is wrong. Just like those that use the words “exactly” and “precisely” as if they have the same meaning are wrong (They are actually completely different aspects in statistics).

I feel like “liberal” has become an insult used by the right for things they don’t like, for example, “This is what the liberals wanted when they elected Biden” or “The liberals want to limit your freedom of speech.”

Agree with @hello321. Liberal and leftist are different. I am a liberal, but I am not a leftist, while he is a leftist but he is not a liberal. (Did I get that right, T?). But there are a lot of issues that we will agree on.

Communist Extreme Left, Left, Liberal Center Left, Liberal, Center Right, Liberal Right, Extreme Right/Nazi.
That is how I see it.

Again, while we can complain about how inadequate a 2-axis model like The Political Compass is, it is far better than the single-axis model we have in the US, which causes all kinds of confusion. Left/right is the economic scale.

They’re both labels that have been over-used and abused by countless people to mean different things, but they usually mean different things, except when being used to mean something like “non-right-wing people” or in the US, “non-Republican people” or something.

“Liberal” in the US seems extra-meaningless in that some people mean “not right-wing, but still pretty conservative”.

I don’t know is there a difference between Fright wing, and conservative?

They too run the gauntlet from mildly annoying to downright cuckoo. Though the zoo is notorious for its more obnoxiously abrasive animals.

In Canada we have the liberal party. We also have a liberal arts degree. Also one can spread icing on a cake liberally.
The name has no meaning anymore.