PBS Newshour: George McGovern & Barry Goldwater: 'On Divisive Politics & '88 Election'

Source:PBS NewsHour- former U.S. Representative and Senator George McGovern (Democrat, South Dakota) on the PBS NewsHour in 1988.

"On Oct. 13, 1988, only weeks before the presidential election of George H.W. Bush over Michael Dukakis, former Sens. George McGovern and Barry Goldwater dropped by the MacNeil/Lehrer Report to discuss the state of the race, the divisive politics of their parties and the legacy of conservatism and liberalism." 

From the PBS NewsHour 

"The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial,[7][8][9] free-to-air television network[10][11][12][13] based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded[14] nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educational programming to public television stations in the United States, distributing shows such as Frontline, Nova, PBS NewsHour, Sesame Street, and This Old House.[15]

PBS is funded by a combination of member station dues, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, pledge drives, and donations from both private foundations and individual citizens. All proposed funding for programming is subject to a set of standards to ensure the program is free of influence from the funding source.[16] PBS has over 350 member television stations, many owned by educational institutions, nonprofit groups both independent or affiliated with one particular local public school district or collegiate educational institution, or entities owned by or related to state government." 

From Wikipedia 

"Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed and equality before the law.[1][2][3] Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, private property and a market economy." 

From Wikipedia 

"Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional social institutions and practices.[1][2] The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the status quo of the culture and civilization in which it appears. In Western culture, conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as organized religion, parliamentary government, and property rights.[3] Conservatives tend to favor institutions and practices that guarantee stability and evolved gradually.[2] Adherents of conservatism often oppose progressivism and seek a return to traditional values." 

From Wikipedia

I'll give you Senator George McGovern's definition of what it means to be a Liberal and I'm paraphrasing: 

A Liberal is the champion of the underdog and someone who believes in using government, especially the national government, to meet the needs of the masses. And the supposed underdog in America is everybody between racial and ethnic minorities, to women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, to gays, to the disabled, everyone in America whose faced racial, ethnic, sexual, or discrimination based on sexuality, or social and economic hardship  in America. That's essentially George McGovern't definition of what it means to be a Liberal in America.

"Democratic socialism is a political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy,[1] with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management[2] within a market socialist economy, or an alternative form of decentralised planned socialist economy.[3] Democratic socialists argue that capitalism is inherently incompatible with the values of freedom, equality, and solidarity and that these ideals can only be achieved through the realisation of a socialist society.[4] Although most democratic socialists seek a gradual transition to socialism,[5] democratic socialism can support either revolutionary or reformist politics as means to establish socialism.[6] Democratic socialism was popularized by socialists who were opposed to the backsliding towards a one-party state in the Soviet Union and other nations during the 20th century." 

From Wikipedia 

Now, if you can tell the political differences between the so-called Modern Liberal (which is just another term for Socialist) and a Democratic Socialist, you must be using, or perhaps have stolen Superman's x-ray vision, because there no real differences. 

The real definition of what it means to be a Liberal (classical or otherwise) is the Wikipedia definition (that I linked on this post) someone who is a champion of individual rights for everyone, not just the special few. Someone who believes in quality of opportunity and freedom and responsibility for everyone, not just the special few