that’s only partly true:
economically liberal indeed means free markets and capitalism (this is why the australian conservative party is called the Liberal party)
however liberalism as a whole includes individual rights like human and civil rights, secularism, etc (this is what the US tends to define as liberal)
it’s an overloaded and imperfect term for our current global political cultures
similar applies to left and right wing:
the left are supporters of change and generally change that supports less fortunate and leads to less social hierarchy
what both these things have in common is that liberal and left wing are about change and new ideas, whilst conservative and right wing are about maintaining the status quo (or as is more currently the case, regressing to a previous status quo)
why do you think mandatory military service isn’t a good idea?
why are you judging peoples countries based on your view that governments shouldn’t force people to do things?
in fact you’re judging peoples’ lived experience and opinions based entirely on your own narrow views of government
mandatory military service might mean fewer wars if people understood better what that meant
my government (australia) is, all in all, a good thing - them telling people in this country to do things is, again all in all, a good thing. we live in a society, and the world has different people with different opinions and different ways of viewing the world and doing things
am i privileged to have a government that i can trust? sure! no denying that… but mistrust of the government is not a reason to write off the entire concept of societal mandates
yknow what else is good? taxes, fire services, disaster response, and dare i say - public healthcare and ambulances… all things im mandated to pay for along with everyone around me in case we ever need them