Liberal?

Question

In your opinion why do people throw the word “liberal” out like it’s a bad thing in a political debate?

-a proud liberal

Answer

It really just amuses me to see "liberal" and "leftist" thrown about like dirty words by people who don't really understand what either term means

Answer

Many reasons. 
The right/centrists fear liberals for being "overly emotional" and don't take them seriously because of this assumption. They also may fear liberals are basically socialists, or Marxists. (which is hilariously inaccurate.)
Leftists (socialists, anarchists, communists, whatever leftists) are critical or annoyed by liberals for thinking the existing system works or could be reformed. Liberals are capitalists, liberals think voting can help fix things- most leftists do not. 
Fascists hate liberals because facists are racists- and liberals and leftists want to dismantle systemic oppression.  Facists use the right wing and steer their ideology for their purposes.

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I used to be a proud and very passionate liberal ( ended up switching parties last year), and I don’t see it as a a word that should be seen as “negative” just like Conservative and Republican shouldn’t be seen as “negative”. It’s a stance and opinions.  I would assume the word can be pinned as a bad thing in a debate because the side one fights against is always painted as “unreasonable” to the other. We are far more similar than we think, and such  division among parties is so sad to see.

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I don't think it's a bad thing. But I'm very liberal so that's probably why.

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I didn’t notice this trend until Fox News started throwing it out as an insult some time in the early 2000’s. Before then it was a considerably more neutral word. They’re a major reason why the dialogue is where it’s at today.

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Because they were told being a liberal is a bad thing. Just like they used to be told (& done still think) being gay is a bad thing. So they throw words around like bullies and obedient "soldiers" without knowing what it really means.

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People do the same thing with ‘conservative’. They like to equate those words to their morals and character

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The origin of the word liberal means free. Liberate. Liberalis in Latin. A liberal person is a free person. Free from oppression and control, intellectually free (enlightened) and physically free. 
I think the dislike of liberal, especially over the 20th-21st centuries, comes from people who feel threatened by the idea of freedom. They think it makes people crazy because they believe people are ultimately untrustworthy when given freedom. 
The opposite of liberal is restricted. Any authoritarian regime hates the idea of liberalism.

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This would be a better post if it wasn’t anonymous.
As a conservative, I don’t actually think calling someone a liberal is an insult.. it’s a way of describing someone with a certain set of political views... just like my self description of being a conservative. I guess some people may call me a Republican or a conservative as an insult, but to me I wouldn’t take it personally unless I didn’t feel confident in my personal politics.

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It’s because the way people self describe themself as a “liberal” these days doesn’t always correlate with the actual definition... it has been given a negative connotation because of the behavior of the people. This goes for both sides. You can meet a “conservative” person, but according to the definition a conservative is “adverse to change”, which is not true for all conservatives. I describe myself as conservative, but I’m actually open to change, just not the same -type- of change a liberal may want. 
I personally believe there is no set definition to the two words in the political sense. It’s a spectrum and I think it’s counterproductive to shove them in a box.