[babble-on]

Yes, the other side lies freely and without consequence, but I don’t really see why that obligates us to do so as well.

I agree with everything else you’ve written. The extreme conditions in intra-war Europe, in an age of absolutist Ideologies, meant that “Liberalism” (in the good, European sense of the word) practically disappeared from the landscape altogether.

There ARE some Liberal aspects to European policy thinking at the moment, but - totally unrecognized by the British and American press - they mostly emanate from Brussels. .. Believe It, Or Not!

[rollo tomasi]

The promotion of Classical Liberalism died off in Europe during the Age of Anxiety. The State became the all-powerful comfort zone (Different ideologies of Statism fighting each other) and thus words like "liberal", "conservative", "right-wing", and "left-wing" became convoluted and rendered meaningless.

Nationalism = Conservative RW, while Marxism = Liberal LW. Simple yet wrong on a truly intellectual level because Nationalism/Marxism can include numerous equivalent doctrines that attack the individual, hence authoritarian diseases.

I despise labels like "liberal" and "conservative". The labels are meant to disconcert the ignorant and prevent discussions that break down policies as well as protecting inefficient bureaucracies, i.e., confusing labels occur in order to protect the State and their interest.