I know what liberalism is. But the first time I encountered that it is used so often was when I looked into English-speaking social media sites like Reddit two years ago.
Spoiler
It is not common to know about reddit here, I live in Bratwurstland. I just wanted to join the pigeon subreddit back then.
Bourgeois, bourgeois class consciousness, bourgeois thinking, bourgeois revolution, etc. The same with petty bourgeoisie etc. etc.
I have the complete collected works of Lenin physically available in german. I have the most important writings of Marx and Engels with me, as well as Tito, Thälmann, Karl Liebknecht, Stalin, Trotsky, Plekhanov, even Lykassenko and some more. (I dont just buy writings I like, but also writing I dont like)
Liberalism didn’t come up that often, only when it was actually about liberalism. But the way liberals are often referred to on English-language social media sites, including here, is a bit strange to me.
Idk about other languages that much. I also didn’t encountered this kind of usage of liberal in the russian version of Lenin’s writings. Bourgeois, bourgeois class consciousness, bourgeois thinking, bourgeois revolution, etc. The same with petty bourgeoisie etc. etc.
Maybe there some here who know what I am talking about and can explain it to me.
Edit: Why did Voyager destroyed my formattig many times
Edit2: Thank you all for your engagement. You helped me a lot how to understand it more correctly if I read it from someone using english language .
I feel most of the reason as to why it’s used is due to english speakers actually knowing how to pronounce it, compared to bourgeoisie. Also saying bourgeoisie basically outs you as a marxist right away, while liberal has some leeway in its use.
Tbh, bourgeois as the frech word itself I only use if I speak russian, there is no alternative. Soeaking german I use the word which was and it is still used.
The bourgeois society used by Marx as “bürgerliche Gesellschaft” has the same correctness today and is widely used. “Bürgerliche Partei” - bourgeois party - and “Liberalle Partei” - liberal party, have different meaning and are used in its different meaning by marxists and also non-marxists.
I remember when a local newspaper wrote an article with the headline translated:“The abyss of a bourgeois marriage”, and in the comments people were hurt why especially “bourgeois marriage” lol.
Important for me is just to know how to handle these words in english. Liberal = bourgeois here? If I say that something is bourgeois, am I understood than? Or do I need to name it liberal?
The outing thing is important, you are right.
I personally feel that liberal is reserved mostly for the cultural groupthink that you see from the likes of democrat voters for example. If I were to read an essay or any text trying to be a bit more serious, I feel bourgeois is the more accurate word. Specially since this groupthink is just what the bourgeoisie hammers into people’s heads from a young age.
Ahhh, I think I start to understand! Thank you, you helped me alot! I was just confused, because I first encountered this kind of usage of this word when I started to engage more in english speaking spheres, to learn better english. But now it all makes more sense.