The European Parliament needs to start condemning Orban for the right reasons. foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/11/in-… This is very wise. But in urging us not to conflate cultural liberalism with democracy,
@DaliborRohac adds to the linguistic confusion. We need to stop conflating the words "liberal" and "left-wing," or at least clarify which meaning we're using, and we need to stop conflating "democracy" with "liberalism."
It's more than a geographic distinction, i.e., that Americans tend to use the word "liberal" to mean "left wing." The conflated usage reflects a deep confusion about what we really consider the essence of a liberal democracy.
When we use the word "democracy" as a synonym for "liberal democracy," we confuse readers and ourselves by suggesting that majoritarianism is the goal. And this confusion has real consequences: We're only just remembering something known only too well to the Founders;
"Majoritarianism" in itself is tyrannical without the protection of individual rights, the separation of powers, and rule of law. The EU would be wise to focus above all on establishing rule of law, separated powers, and negative liberties--
It should let its members sort out the positive ones as they see fit.
