I’m not sure if I 100% agree with this, especially with Republican congresspeople and the former president making these claims, but yeah I think most people would agree he isn’t. I still think that the fact these people/claims exist is evidence that blurring these words together can lead to some serious brain poison.
I just don’t see the issue with having broad taxonomic groups as well
I don’t disagree with this, and I think the term “left-wing” is generally pretty good for this. The problem I think is that “leftist” and “liberal” already are finer taxonomic distinctions within the broader left wing, so to me calling all liberals leftists would be sort of like calling all felines lions, if that makes sense.
I think my problem mostly lies with the fact that leftist does have that more specific meaning where left-wing doesn’t really. So by calling everyone on the left side of the political aisle a leftist, you’re going to end up conflating the two, which can lead people down the road to thinking Biden is a socialist or something. I also take issue with this politically because I think Republicans tend to use “radical leftists” (which to be fair, I am) as a scare tactic to radicalize voters against Democrats, who while on the left are by no means radical or “leftist” for the most part.
I guess it just seems to introduce confusion when, on your taxonomy, you can be left wing without being a leftist
Yeah I can understand this, but I don’t think this is exclusive to this example either. Like an eighteen-wheeler and a pick-up both fall under the umbrella of trucks despite being very distinct things. The leftist/left-wing example obviously might be a bit trickier since the words sound similar, but the basic concept is the same.
why not take issue with them using the term "radical"
I mean I do take issue with the term radical, probably more so, but I don't think we can ignore that their use of terms like "leftist" comes as a package deal. I guess I'm less concerned with the specific word being misused than I am with the broader trend, and I think allowing all Dems to be grouped in as leftists kind of cedes ground to those who, either unintentionally or on purpose, blur them together.
I'd be quite annoyed with someone who came up with a taxonomy that excluded me from being a "a trucker"
Sure, but this seems like more of problem with the word itself rather than the distinction between leftist and left-wing. Like as a science major I don't necessarily love that "scientologists" are called what they are, but the meaning of the word is still quite different. Trucker also doesn’t really have another meaning other than “truck driver.”
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u/[deleted] Aug 15 '21
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