Bill D wrote:
YOU asserted that liberals/leftists are the one trying to force others to do things their way. I disagree that this is accurate.

Oh, that... I admit you're right in the broader sense, as the labels are popularly used today: in many areas conservatives do try to force others to do things their way. I thought I explained above that I was talking about government control of the economy, and economic matters. Popularly, present-day American conservatives are called "right" while social liberals are called "left," but historically, when speaking of economic theory and government control, left refers to government economic control while right refers to individual economic liberty, because (I think) that's what they were talking about when they first started using left/right labels–19th century, wasn't it?

If there's so much confusion about the labels today then perhaps they've outlived their usefulness.

Do you consider yourself a leftist? A progressive?