Nowadays, the term “liberal” has come to be used, generally, to refer to political and social positions which are perceived to be on the left of the political spectrum. Obama was labeled a communist by disgruntled Americans, and the Canadian Liberal party has also been characterized as “socialist.”
This is entirely incorrect. Both Obama and Trudeau are, if anything, federalists. The “liberal left” is not the left, it’s actually a little to the right of the centre.
There is not a single major political party right now that is socialist, let alone communist.
The implication being, of course, that if what we perceive as (and often attack for) being on the left is actually a political and social trend that’s on the right of the spectrum, then what we think of as the right (especially now that we’re seeing the “resurgence of the right”) isn’t actually conservatism or republicanism.
It’s fascism.
