Annalee Newitz 🍜May 6, 2024
I asked my media studies students to look at the New York Times' op-ed page to determine what the paper's Overton Window is. Most thought it was fairly liberal, but others thought it was just kind of silly. One commented simply, "These are really absurd topics for articles."
Show threadPhredd Groves

@annaleen So, which definition of 'liberal' is in play here?

• The USian version of 'generally to the left'?

• The (to my mind) actual meaning of the term, which is to say, far more interested in property rights and the status quo than human rights?

May 6, 2024 at 6:32pmWeb
Show threadCarolannieMay 6, 2024
@phredd @annaleen That's a pretty different interpretation of liberal. I did a brief search to see if it was used that way and it seems to be used in exactly the opposite sense to yours.
Show threadFeralRobotsMay 7, 2024
@carolannie @phredd @annaleen
yeh, was the point that self-identified liberals don't believe what they profess to, or was it a reference to the "classical liberal" trope deployed by wannabe-edgy young white libertarian-coded conservative men?
Show threadAnnalee Newitz 🍜May 6, 2024
@phredd these are undergrads, so they definitely mean "generally to the left," which I thought was hilarious for many reasons.