CMV: The term "leftism" has been disingenuously weaponized by reactionaries and fascists

I am relatively new to this subreddit, so please guide me through the proper protocol if I am committing any faux pas. The goal is to have a sincere discussion. I will make an effort to respond to as many comments as possible.<br><br>I think that the term "leftism" has been disingenuously weaponized by reactionaries and fascists, to distract from discussions of class struggle by reframing them as culture wars. Over the past few decades, right-wing reactionaries within wealthy capitalist democracies have intentionally conflated leftism with liberalism through strategic deployment of propaganda, disinformation, and historical revisionism.<br><br>Leftism denotes a social and political movement to end class society based on exploitation of labor for private profit. The core tenets of leftism are that people should strive for the collective common good, that both individual freedom and equality are essential, that exploitation of one human being by another is inherently wrong, that those who labor should control the means of production, and that class society causes alienation and should be overthrown. Leftists believe that capitalism is inherently exploitative and alienating, and that societal class divisions inevitably cause economic inequality and inhibit human potential.<br><br>From the very early days of the US, fascistic authoritarian sentiment has been present and has been levered by capitalist class interests and the powerful to divide-and-conquer working-class people and prevent them from developing class consciousness. In the post-WW2 US, reactionaries began to exploit societal fear and mistrust to recharacterize themselves as the defenders of freedom and to portray internal and external critics of capitalism as a threat to peace, prosperity, and national security. Within this historical context, US reactionaries have repeatedly conflated leftism with liberalism and communism, using the labels interchangeably and as pejoratives, to make anyone who seeks change inherently un-American. When someone calls a liberal left, they are performing this double meaning.<br><br>"Leftism" is often associated with progressive social activism, e.g., feminism, environmentalism, and racial justice movements. These movements attempt to correct for the social costs of a capitalist system premised upon exploitation of labor power and natural resources, so they are diametrically opposed to leftism. Leftists seek revolutionary change to end class society. Liberals seek reform to strengthen the legitimacy of class society.<br><br>By design, propaganda campaigns have created confusion about the meaning of "leftism." Reactionaries and liberals both benefit from this obfuscation. Both groups blur distinctions between social activism and revolutionary politics. Both groups disconnect contemporary politics from historical context. Both groups distort the history of capitalism and the struggle against capitalism. Both groups depoliticize obviously political issues. Both groups divert attention from class struggle. Both groups help to manufacture consent around capitalist relations of production. Both groups help to depoliticize workers, undermine organizing, and justify the repression of dissent.<br><br>By conflation of "leftism" with liberalism, both reactionaries and liberals obscure the fact that capitalism has received criticism from both the left and the right. Many revolutionaries throughout history have identified as right-wing and have attacked class society as incompatible with their principles of nationalism, traditional values, or social hierarchy. Fascistic movements are reactionary and anti-revolutionary, in that they defend existing capitalist class relations and seek to crush all forms of worker dissent, but they often appropriate left-wing rhetoric and pretend to oppose capitalist class relations, employing anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist language to attack "globalists," "banksters," and "financiers."<br><br>Many in this subreddit have seemingly adopted the double meaning of "leftism." Some then wield "leftism" as a pejorative, as an aspersion against reformists. Others wield "leftism" as a badge of honor, to denote their commitment to social justice and progressive politics.<br><br>Discussion is welcome