Indeed, the terms have been turned on their heads. "Liberal" used to be a great word with significant meaning. Now, it's almost an epithet.
It is hard to find a single person who is known as a "black conservative" who is in fact in favor of preserving the status quo, much less going back to the previous status quo.I agree with Dr. Sowell here. Words mean things, so I never took to holding the "conservative" label.
Self-professed "conservatives" that I am familiar with are not a problem. But what does one seek to conserve?
There's nothing that I seek to conserve. Society has ventured to far to the left that I definitely do not seek to conserve the status quo. Many things now need to be completely uprooted and cast aside, so we can start from scratch with the founding documents of the United States as our guide.
When I think about it, the NAACP is a conservative group. They want to conserve the status quo and then some.
I've recently grown tired of fights over whether the Nazis were right-wing or left. My standard opinion is that the Natioal Socialist German Workers Party was left-wing. But even some Conservatives don't want to hear that.
Left, Right, Liberal, Conservative ... what does it all mean?
It seems to me that the Bad Guys in history are usually Collectivist. Mussolini and Hitler were both openly Collectivist. The US Democrats with their Identity Politics and lack of respect for private property seem openly Collectivist.
And although some liberals will attack Liberals, and in conversation it can be awkward to say "I'm not a Liberal, I'm a liberal.", I think the term Collectivist leaves no doubt as to their perceived location on the political spectrum.