February 4, 2025
Liberal and Free-market
One must not confuse "liberal" with "free-market advocate" (liberista). "Liberal" in the democratic sense means that political power is chosen through pluralistic elections in a climate of broad freedom and thus stands in opposition to old absolutisms, communisms, fascisms, and other dictatorships.
A free-market advocate (liberista), on the other hand, supports free enterprise, in contrast to socialism, which advocates state intervention in the economy.
There are non-democratic and free-market regimes (e.g., fascist regimes), non-democratic and non-free-market regimes (e.g., communist regimes), democratic and free-market systems (e.g., the USA), and democratic and socialist systems (e.g., Scandinavian countries).
In practice, contemporary democratic regimes balance state intervention and free enterprise in varying ways—typically alternating between right- and left-wing policies in elections.