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Liberal has not meant capitalism for a very long time, not in europe or anywhere else. Maybe if you say libertarian it still does.“liberal” very much means capitalism in most European political discourse or really most places outside of the -U.S.A.
Consider that even on Wikipedia, where non-U.S.A. politics is discussed, the term is typically so used:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Party_for_Freedom_a...
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Party_of_Australia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Democratic_Party_(Germany...
> I really don't think europeans think the left in american are really "right". Europe is not further left than the american left.
It is quite a common sentiment one hears from European that from their perspective all U.S.A. politics is right wing.
Consider that there are very few European countries where even the most right wing parties would ever suggest such a system as at-will employment, which is pervasive throughout the U.S.A., and which neither party has shown any desire to end. — it is really seen as quite dystopian from a European perspective.
To say that Europe is not further left is a very strange claim. You will find no European country, or many developed countries at all, with the following, which are common to universal in the U.S.A.:
- The right of employers to terminate without first seeking approval from an employment court or similar organ
- A lack of universal healthcare
- A lack of universal access to higher education
- The legal allowance of advertising drugs
- Non-defaultable student loans
- Very low minimum wages
- Waivability of refund rights
Such things are generally considered extremely capitalist in most developed nations, but are quite normal in the U.S.A..
> Grrr, what does european even mean. It's like 40 different governments and countries. All with different cultures.
And you will find that in each and every one of them healthcare is a universal right, at will employment does not exist, and drugs cannot be advertised, and probably many more of what I listed.
It is not that Europe is so culturally homogeneous, it is that the U.S.A. is very exceptional in how capitalist it is. You will also not find most of these things in, say, Canada, or Australia, or any other developed nations. — the U.S.A. is rather unique in how much it indulges the big man at the expense of the little man, and neither party seems particularly interested in implementing changes that would bring it to a similar balance that the rest of the developed world enjoys.