Buffy fan? Meantime, I don't need you to be convinced. It's more an expression of my perpetually dismayed realisation that 21stC Leftists are so conservative themselves. Unwilling as they are to countenance diversity or liberalism.
I sorry that you are in a state of perpetually dismayed realisation. Sounds awful. Do you use liberalism in the US or Aust sense? And which diversity are you talking about?
1) Thanks. It's like an intermitent low grade tooth ache. I forget sometimes, and can almost believe that my fellows are liberals, and have sufficient imagination and depth of knowledge of their own politics, to know that Leftism comes in many shapes and sizes. 2) There is only one sense. It's not like beauty .. the eye of the beholder has little bearing. If you're still usure - liberalism is not excluding half of the population from your conception of 'smart and decent'. 3) Political, philosophical, economic, etc. These are where tolerance reveals itself, since other forms are fixed (accidents of birth like race and gender) and therefore a cheap and easy tool for faux tolerance. No effort required whatsoever, since those things are not changeable.
2. There is classical liberalism and there is “social” liberalism. Classical liberalism doesn’t seem to leave much room for Left ideas- “Left-wing beliefs are liberal in that they believe society is best served with an expanded role for the government. People on the right believe that the best outcome for society is achieved when individual rightsand civil liberties are paramount and the role — and especially the power — of the government is minimized. “ https://www.diffen.com/difference/Left_Wing_vs_Right_Wing Whereas “social” liberalism does. Interesting contrast.
There is only 'classical' liberalism. The clue is in the name 'LIBERal'. LIBERATION/LIBERTY. Anything which does not further the liberty of a wide range of philosophies/speech/thought, is by definition not liberal. Any position which seeks to limit speech or thought is therefore not liberal. Any position which holds that there is a fixed and immutable moral high ground is therefore not liberal. Etc.
