The Semantics of Politics

I just read an interesting article that has shown the Democratic presidential candidates are shying away from calling themselves “liberals.”

Hillary Rodham Clinton was asked this summer if she would describe herself as a “liberal.”

The Democratic front-runner shied away, saying the “word” — noticeably not using the word — has taken on a connotation that “describes big government.

“I prefer the word ‘progressive,’” she said. It has a “real American meaning.”

Then she expanded the term to “modern progressive,” and, finally, clarified that she was a “modern American progressive.”

Personally, I am very happy that the Democratic presidential candidates have decided that the word liberal doesn’t fit them. In fact, that word has developed a connotation with the average American voter in recent decades that has had the effect of completely reversing what the true word means. Maybe I can resume calling myself a liberal instead of a "small 'l' libertarian." It's a lot easier to type.

The Webster’s dictionary (4th edition paper version, I was offline when writing this) describes liberalism as, “the quality or state of being liberal; specifically a political philosophy advocating personal freedom for the individual.” However, the group that has been called liberal have actually been promoting governmental control of many social responsibilities, thereby limiting personal freedom for individuals. Typically, this would be called socialism, except that term also carries many negative connotations with the average American voter, which explains why it isn’t being used.

In today’s politically correct world, the emphasis is placed more on the connotation of words than that of their actual meaning. Being liberal has changed from “advocating personal freedoms of individuals” to describing “big government.” A person isn’t “black” instead he or she is “African-American” even if he or she has never set foot in an African country in their entire life.

This is precisely why I despise political correctness so much. The PC policy doesn’t affect change, it hides the problem from the truth, therefore preventing honest debate that can bring about change.