Liberalism used to mean an ideology based around the following principles:

1. Proclaiming individual freedom as an absoulute value that superseeds collective interests.

2. Only strong individuals can form a strong and functional state.

3. Individuals have god-given innate rights ("human rights", the theological argument was later forgotten). These rights include freedom of speach, freedom of peacful assembly, the right to defend yourself in court, freedom of religion, freedom of trade, freedom of enterprise, right to fair trial by law.

4. Everyone is equal before the law and laws should grant everyone equal opportunities.

5. The excercise of rights by an individual should not violate the rights of other individuals.

These are the principles on which both the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution are based upon. And they are liberal documents.

A liberal can be conservative on some issues and progressive on other issues. As were the founding fathers.

Neolibs stand for a different set of ideas:

- equality of outcome

- identity politics

- affirmative action

- positive discriminaiton

- restricting freedom of speech

- subverting due process

These are not liberal principles. They are neomarxist/ postmodernist ideas. All of the PC bullshit and SJW bullshit is not liberalism.

Making this distinciton is important to me, precisely because I stand against Putinism. Putinists use the insanity of the neolib movement to smear liberalism. So whenever you start talking about human rights in Russia you are immediately called a "libtard", which in Russian sounds like "faggot".

I consider myself a liberal, and I am an enemy of both Putin and the neolibs.