However, they’re necessary. It’s not practical to provide definitions and explanations, so here are some for commonly misused labels. Unless otherwise noted, the definitions are copied from the Merriam Webster or New Oxford English dictionaries.
conservative: averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values
Christian: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ
traditional: of or relating to tradition : consisting of or derived from tradition
liberal: a person who is liberal: such as one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways
: an advocate or adherent of liberalism especially in individual rights
progressive: making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities
classical liberalism: (very confusing to most Americans, it’s a philosophy similar to what we know as libertarianism): a political philosophy and ideology belonging to liberalism in which primary emphasis is placed on securing the freedom of the individual by limiting the power of the government.
The philosophy emerged as a response to the Industrial Revolution and urbanization in the 19th century in Europe and the United States.
It advocates civil liberties with a limited government under the rule of law, private property, and belief in laissez-faire economic policy.
wikipedia.
moderate: avoiding extremes of behavior or expression : observing reasonable limits
independent: not looking to others for one's opinions or for guidance in conduct
: not bound by or committed to a political party
theocracy: government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided
plutocracy: government by the richest people of a country (and special interest groups, funded by some of the very wealthy, most of whom inherited their wealth)
authoritarian: of, relating to, or favoring blind submission to authority,
had authoritarian parents
: of, relating to, or favoring a concentration of power in a leader or an elite not constitutionally responsible to the people
autocracy: the authority or rule of an autocrat
: government in which one person possesses unlimited power
: a community or state governed by autocracy
fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
The term Fascism was first used of the totalitarian right-wing nationalist regime of Mussolini in Italy (1922–43), and the regimes of the Nazis in Germany and Franco in Spain were also Fascist. Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach.
wikipedia
Now: extreme right wing, authoritarian, and intolerant of other views or practices. See Umberto Eco’s writings on ur-fascism
homophobia: irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or gay people
social democracy: (Collins dictionary): Social democracy is a political system in which social justice and equality can be achieved within the framework of a market economy.
...western-style social democracy
The following are economic systems or philosophies, not forms of government.
capitalist: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market
socialism: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
communism: a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
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I’m conservative, prefer many things as they are, music, literature, church services, personal dress… I believe in capitalism, as do most U.S. and European citizens. The countries with the healthiest economies and happiest people are capitalist. They’re also social democracies, where more people vote, they have strong unions, union-management committees, healthcare for all at generally less than half our per capita cost, fair tax systems, caps on executive compensation, strong regulations.
Today the incorrect label “conservative” has a wide range of people. Those who still vote Republican include less educated people who fear losing white privilege; fear immigrants, women, and education; some are white nationalists; “social conservatives” believe lies about abortion and are homophobic, and anti-LGBT rights; “religious conservatives” who are those and dominionists/reconstructionists, believing those lies and propaganda; there are no “fiscal conservative” Republican politicians left.
Note the definition of "Christian". Jesus said nothing to justify white nationalism, "conservative christianity" we see now, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, voter suppression... He was perhaps the most progressive man in Judeo/Christian history. He didn't intend it to end with Him. The gift of the Holy Spirit was to allow all His followers to be his hands and feet, and voice, in our world.
As I said, the countries with the healthiest economies and happiest people are social democracies. The Wharton School, Trump’s alma mater, does an annual report similar to this one, same findings. One factor, all other developed countries in the world have some form of universal healthcare, at generally less than half our per capita cost.
The U.S. is a plutocracy. The founding fathers were well to do white men, please see my post on democracy. They feared mob rule, and possible autocracy. Most of them were deists. They firmly believed in the separation of church and state.
Paul Weyrich was one of the most influential unelected men in modern history. There were others, the subject of another post later. They were/are theocratic reactionary authoritarians. Weyrich founded ALEC and their unconstitutional voter suppression, co-founded the Moral Majority with Jerry Falwell and the Heritage Foundation. Primary funding for ALEC came from tobacco companies, now it’s mostly fossil fuel interests, led by Charles Koch. Funding for the Heritage Foundation was initially from $billionaire Joseph Coors. His $billionaire heirs are still funding right wing organizations.
Another was Richard Mellon Scaife, along with his sister an heir to the Andrew Mellon fortune. He died in 2014, but left $1.4 billion to his foundations. Andrew Mellon was a factor in the Great Depression. History repeats. The causes were unconstrained greed, deregulation and economic fallacies similar to those that caused the economic collapses and recessions of 1987, 2000 and 2007. Bill Clinton signed Phil Gramm’s disastrous deregulation legislation.
Fred Koch and the Bradley brothers were founders of the anti-communist John Birch Society. The Bradley Foundation is still a major contributor to right wing organizations. Fred Koch made part of his fortune building refineries for Hitler and Stalin. What he saw in Russia led him to despise “communism”. Now, Russians under Putin influenced our elections.
Russia is not a communist country, neither is Cuba. Venezuela and others are not socialist. Neither exist, those countries all have single party totalitarian governments, some autocracies, which is what Trump wanted, still wants, and had/has help from Republicans who have betrayed their oaths of office to support and protect our Constitution and the rights it’s supposed to protect.
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