I guess I view it in a more utility kind of way, but I may have had different experiences with the word than you. I’d say whether somebody calls themself a leftist or a [more precisely named tendency] is a little bit like someone saying CCP instead of CPC. It tells you something off the bat about what realm of political literacy or intention they might be lurking in.
It is definitely one of the signs that something is off about the person that is using that terminology (like if someone is calling a democrat a “leftist”, you know they do not know what they are talking about and are likely conservative).
I guess I view it in a more utility kind of way, but I may have had different experiences with the word than you. I’d say whether somebody calls themself a leftist or a [more precisely named tendency] is a little bit like someone saying CCP instead of CPC. It tells you something off the bat about what realm of political literacy or intention they might be lurking in.
It is definitely one of the signs that something is off about the person that is using that terminology (like if someone is calling a democrat a “leftist”, you know they do not know what they are talking about and are likely conservative).