What's the difference between a Leftie and a Liberal?

I think I must be a Liberal Tory .

Actually I hate being defined by other peoples definitions, think I'll just stick to argumentative and vaguely inflammatory :o

saucetastic, that is what they tell us, but just look at what they did. Actions speak louder than words. ID cards, DNA database, increase of CCTV cameras, trials without juries, scrapping of double jeopardy law. And that's only a fraction of it. The coalition pledged to roll back what New Labour had done, and they have been true to their word, tearing up hundreds of laws.

Ten more years of leftie "freedom" and leftie "civil liberties" and we would all be politically correctly chanting "freedom is slavery", "war is peace" and "ignorance is strength", just as George Orwell warned us.

If you listen carefully, you can hear some lefties already chanting it.

"I always thought the left were more concerned with civil liberties"

you also skipped the last 13 years of labour govt!

Depends if it's big L or little l dunnit?

If it's little l, then a lefty can also be a liberal. If it's a big L, there's a whole fucking ocean of difference. (thank fuck)

in the states, as Gore Vidal put it, there is one party - it is the party of big business. The Democrats being slightly less so, they are branded 'left' and 'liberal' where in comparison to UK political parties are neither. Still love The West Wing though.

liberal = someone who believes in giving people as much freedom as possible

Leftie - someone who believes in giving everyone an equal share of the countrys wealth (or lack of it)

although people seem to think the two are linked (probably because Media types like to think they are both), historically the left has been decidedly illiberal. And liberals...have arrived in all shapes and forms.

'freedom'.
Hmmm... this could be convoluted.

I always thought the left were more concerned with civil liberties. But then, i skipped politics 101.

Prolesworth, it is a continuum. Not all lefties are on the authoritarian wing, some are closer to the liberal end of the spectrum. But I think it is true to say that on the whole liberal governments are less likely to impose authoritarian, punitive laws than leftie governments, since they value freedom higher than leftie governments.

One way of grasping the difference between a leftie and a liberal, is tha age old question that has been asked by many thinkers?

Question:
What is worse than an incompetent leftie?

Answer:
A competent one

The difference is that a competent liberal is fine.

I think the terms leftie and liberal are interchangeable in the United States, and there a liberal is a Democrat and a leftie.

A liberal is someone who tends towards liberty and libertarianism and is for civil liberties and justice and equality. They believe in freedom for the individual and as saucetastic said, can also believe in free markets. They are opposed to authoritarian state control.

A leftie doesn't care so much about individual liberty, they are more collectivist, and believe in big government, big state and nanny state. They are more authoritarian than liberals and are happier to dispense with certain civil liberties and freedoms, for what they believe is in the interest of the community as a whole.

Please correct me if i'm wrong - as my political knowledge is limited. I think Liberal can also apply to being financially liberal ie. believing in an open free market economy - which would mean that it is entirely possible to be a Conservative Liberal. I think the Liberal party in Australia is to the right.

'Left' traditionally means you support the creation a more equal society with wealth being redistributed from the 'haves' to the 'have nots' in order to achieve it. 'Liberal' in the non-party-political sense of the word means greater tolerance of differences and change... not bound by tradition.... respecting civil liberties.