In the same way we separate yellowjackets from paper wasps, even though those with phobias call them all bees.

Colonialism is a type of imperialism that maintains economic and social subjugation of the (usually) remote region, and may or may not involve some form of genocide. It’s a geopolitical term describing historical aspects of imperialism, and spills over into doctrine and ideology, which is maybe why you are conflating the terms.

Liberal, and liberalism, in the narrow non-colloquial but generally pejorative usage that you are implying, refers to a doctrine of possessive individualism. That leads to colonialism, via imperialism, yes, but they are not the same.

You are arguing with yourself not with me. I never said liberal democracies don't place property before humans. All I originally said was that other societies placed property before humans, not just liberal democracies. To which you said my example of ancient Greece was wrong, because the state owned some silver mines. To which I said that's not a good argument, because they still used slaves. Like some lib democracies used to too, I am aware. As a clue, they abolished slavery, which very few other societies did, but it's kind of beside my main point, see above. If you want to argue, argue with that, not with stuff I never said.

EDIT: I am not even saying that liberal democracy is good. I think it is better than a lot of other systems. It's still very flawed, and partly because it cannot synthetize property rights with human rights. At least it keeps trying .