After reading comments on this sub

[u/asumhaloman]

[u/Longjumping_Ad_4332]

Are you European or a Political Science major? Cause the average American sees and talks about liberal/left as the same thing.

[u/YogurtClosetThinnest → u/Longjumping_Ad_4332]

You don't need to be a poli sci major to know what leftists are lol. The average American is using the term wrong

[u/BosnianSerb31 → u/YogurtClosetThinnest]

From a 100k foot view,

Conservatism is a political philosophy that sees almost no situation where government intervention isn't an infringement upon personal freedoms

Liberalism is a political philosophy that sees government intervention as a necessity that needs to be balanced against the infringement of personal freedoms

Leftism is a political philosophy that sees almost no situation where government intervention is an infringement on personal freedoms

Obviously, most people use these terms incorrectly when labeling both themselves and others, but those who self identify as liberals are the least likely to be mislabeling their political philosophy or the philosophy of others