“What’s the Difference Between a Liberal and a Leftist? Dennis Prager often asks this question. Surprisingly it stumps many people. They think liberal and left are essentially the same. But they’re not. Liberalism and leftism have almost nothing in common. The Left has appropriated the word “liberal” so effectively almost everyone thinks they are synonymous. But they’re not. Here are some examples Prager uses to illustrate the point:
Race:
This is probably the most obvious difference between Liberal and Left. The liberal position on race has always been that the color of a person’s skin is insignificant. Further, those who believe race is significant are racists. Meanwhile, the left believes the opposite. To the left, it’s the liberal attitude toward race, that it is unimportant, that is racist. This is why the University of California officially lists the statement, “There is only one race, the human race” as racist.
Liberals have always been passionately committed to racial integration. Leftists are increasingly committed to racial segregation. They favor all-black dormitories and separate black graduations at universities. Liberal does not equal Left.
Capitalism:
Liberals have always been pro-capitalism. Liberals are committed to free enterprise. They know capitalism is the only way to lift great numbers of people out of poverty. It is true that liberals want government to play a bigger role in the economy than conservatives do. But liberals never opposed capitalism. They were never for socialism. Opposition to capitalism and advocacy of socialism are Leftist values.
Nationalism:
Liberals believe in the nation state, regardless whether the nation is the United States, Brazil, or France. Because the left divides the world by class rather than by nation, the left has always opposed nationalism. Liberals have always wanted to protect American sovereignty and borders. The left is for open borders.
When the writers of Superman were Liberals, Superman was a proud American. His motto was “Truth, justice, and the American way.” That all changed when Leftist writers took over the comic strip. They had Superman renounce his American citizenship to be a citizen of the world. The Left has contempt for nationalism, seeing it as the road to fascism. Leftists feel it is better that we should all be citizens of the world; in a world without borders.
View of America:
Liberals have always venerated America. Watch American films from the 1930s through the 1950s. You will be watching overtly patriotic, America-celebrating films. Virtually all of them produced, directed and acted by liberals. Liberals were quite aware of America’s imperfections. However, they agreed with Abraham Lincoln that America is “the last, best hope of earth.” The Left, however, believes the left is the last, best hope of earth. It regards America as racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, violent, and imperialistic.
Free speech:
No one has been more committed than American Liberals to the statement, “I wholly disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” The left on the other hand, is leading the first widespread suppression of free speech in modern American history. From the universities, to tech companies, to almost every other institution and place of work Leftist support censorship. Of course, the left claims to only oppose hate speech. But put aside the fact that the left deems everything it differs with to be hate speech. Protecting what you or I might consider hate speech is the entire point of free speech.
Western civilization:
Liberals have always championed and sought to protect Western civilization. Liberals celebrate the West’s unique moral, philosophical, artistic, musical and literary achievements. They have taught them at virtually every university. The most revered liberal in American political history was probably President Franklin Roosevelt. He often cited the need to protect Western civilization and even Christian civilization.
Yet, when President Trump spoke of the need to protect Western civilization in a speech in Warsaw, the Leftist media, also known as the mainstream media, denounced him. They argued that Western civilization is no better than any other. They wrote and said that Western civilization is just a euphemism for white supremacy.
So, if liberalism and leftism are so different, why don’t liberals oppose the left? The answer is because they have been taught all their lives to fear the right. But as one of the best-known liberals in America, Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz said, “As a liberal, as an American, and as a Jew, I far more fear the left than the right.”
Conclusion
Dear liberals: Conservatives are not your enemy. The left is. Just think about it. We’ll vote on it again soon enough. That will be the test of whether or not you learned anything today. The question will be “What’s the Difference Between a Liberal and a Leftist? Remember vote early, vote often.
