Some of the more cowardly neo-nazis would probably be happy to use the term "classical liberal" to describe them. Like you said, every group under the sun is calling themselves classically liberal, regardless of what their beliefs are. It doesn't mean anything.Poonoo wrote:Yeah, originally it is simply a libertarian since Liberal used to mean economically liberal. It's why the Australian right wing party is called the Liberal Party, when they formed over 100 years ago liberal mean free markets. But now moderate leftists who hate SJWs are co-opting the term and now libertarians and leftists are under that same banner so it means absolutely nothing other than "I hate SJWs". Neo-Nazis hate SJWs too, are they "classical liberals" too?rabidtictac wrote:"I'm a classic liberal" is one of those statements that may as well be invisible. It tells me nothing about you or what you believe, just that you think the term "liberal" would be more palatable as a way to describe your views than whatever your views actually are.
More useful would be to say:
"I am socially liberal and economically conservative"
Or
"I am socially conservative and economically liberal"
Or
"I am socially moderate and economically moderately liberal."
At least that gives me some idea where such a person might tend to stand on issues. Or they could just talk about issues and avoid labeling themselves altogether. The "classical liberal" label is just some PR shit for people who think "liberal" is a nice-sounding word.
