How the Left Stole the Label 'Liberal'

Chapter 2.3: The Great Switcheroo

Why this book | Title Page | Table of Contents
Preface | Introduction
PART 1
Chapter 1 (1.1) (1.2) | Chapter 2 (2.1) (2.2) (2.3) | Chapter 3
PART 2
Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6
PART 3
Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14
PART 4
Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 |
PART 5
Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Conclusion
Appendix | Works Cited

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Chapter 2: What the Left Says the Right Is

Monarchists and fascists and reactionaries, oh my!

2.3:
The Great Switcheroo

The Great Switcheroo

❝I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary.

—Grandpa Simpson

Is the right…

• classical liberals, who believe in the inherent freedom of the individual (based in a natural law that preexists any manmade law), free markets, and limited, rights-protective governance;¹

• monarchists who seek a return to the ancien régime;

• conservatives who seek to slow the pace of social change;

• reactionaries who seek to undo progress and return to an earlier social order;

• anyone who disagrees with whatever is deemed the orthodox or official left; or

• something else entirely?

Will the real “right” please step forward?

Believe it or not, we’re actually getting closer to cutting this Gordian knot. But first, we’re going to have to—temporarily—add even more confusion:

THE RIGHT USED TO BE THE LEFT.