Me after creating a meme and starting a political debate on memes sub “what have i done”.I HATE MY CREATION for the record.
See those jackasses with swastikas, they hate you. They’re the furthest right. See the people with hammers and sickles or black flags and maltovs? They hate each other almost as much as they hate the rich. They’re the furthest left.
In reality the right wing wants lower taxes, more police, more military, less corporate legislation, and to regulate your sexual and medical decisions every moral panic. They also tend to vote how their preacher tells them.
The left wing wants to regulate businesses, fund public works and social services, try to create a more equal society (the right wants hierarchy), and generally supports freedom except when used for bigotry. We also like unions. The further left you go the more you like unions.
Obligatory Wilhoit: “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”
The left generally wants lower taxes too, just for different people. The left thinks the poorest should pay no taxes, while the right thinks the richest should pay no taxes. (Obviously I’m being hyperbolic, but that’s generally how it plays out.)
What if I want no taxes for the lower class lower taxes for the middle class and small business but much higher taxes on the upper class and large corporations, a very strong military, less but stronger corporate regulation with more teeth, to fund public works and social services with the taxes we bring in, a free and equal society with no hierarchical systems or bigotry, freedom of speech and strong privacy laws with certain restrictions on speech (calls to violence, etc…), very strong unions, a near complete elimination of wall street, and a fair justice system that doesn’t target minorities as prey? Also, guns are fine for self defense in my opinion. Which side do I fall on?
Edit: So if you will read my posts below I talk about how going against groupthink just makes you enemies of the group. Then the group started down voting me down below. I’m really not worried about fake internet points. I just want to make sure that everyone that downvoted me is well aware that my point is well and truly proven. A difference of opinion is not welcome. Even, and especially, if that opinion is, “Stop letting the group think for you. Examine each issue as a separate issue and make fair and reasoned decisions.”
How it sounds to me
It’s depressing how many people would be more leftist if America didn’t systemically demonize anything left of mid-right. Instead people feel various ways that Would push them further left (such as pro choice in this image) and instead come up with these logical loops then keep voting Republican because that’s just how they vote.
It really is a bit more nuanced than that.
I think you may want to look into syndicalism actually.
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Pretty leftist my dude. Embrace it
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Is it even possible to describe the left end the right and not make it sound like the right are the bad guys?
Not if you’re trying to be honest
nah
Bro, the left and right are originally French, not American, and they’re applied worldwide throughout various systems.
Long story short, in the original National Assembly in 1789, people with similar opinions ended up befriending each-other and sitting nearby during the session, so at one point you had all those who thought the revolution ought to go further (give more rights to more people, decrease the power of the king or outright depose him, etc…) sitting on the left, and all those who thought the revolution had gone to far already and ought to slow down sitting on the right.
Of course, by this metric, the very concept of a republic is far left, but the idea is that no matter what system you’re in, once it’s established enough, wanting to maintain the status quo is being a centrist, wanting change that puts more power in the hands of common people is left wing, and opposing such changes or wanting to undo them to “restore order”, often concentrating power in fewer hands, is right wing.
This “power” I speak of was at the beginning just political power, but through the 19th century, the focus shifted towards economic power. Therefore, since the late 19th century, a right wing policy a policy that favors the rich, and a left wing policy one that places restrictions on the rich and welfare policy for the poor to decrease inequality. This is why liberals were initially left wing, but neoliberalism is now mostly regarded as a wing ideology. These are policies that want a weaker state, but more rights/powers for rich individuals.
I am very surprised that there is only one legitimate reference to the original coining of these terms from the beginning of the French Revolution so far in this thread asking what these terms mean.
If in America then it’s all right wing.
my biggest pet peeve in the world is when people equate liberalism (a right-wing ideology) with the left, solely because the american baseline is so far right compared to europe. the closest shot the US have had of pivoting to proper left-wing is bernie sanders (at least as far as i’m aware, and i’m too scared of further rotting my brain by consuming more american politics)
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Good additions. I actually struggled to find a good way to criticize the left because I am extremely left-leaning myself. I caught myseld writing a “cons bad” post and decided to attack the weaknesses I see in left-wing politics as a bit of a self-challenge, tho admittedly with only about two minutes of consideration. Judging by the points on the post my perspective is not very popular.
Tbh I should give this more thought, finding flaws in your own positions is a harder exercise than I realized. I’ll have to explore and flesh out these ideas a bit more.
Some people enjoy walking on the wings of passenger planes. For some reason Americans are really hostile about which wing is better to stand on while in flight.
Ah good for them . I personelly prefer sitting in the centre to balance everything .
You like to sit in the middle of the alley? I prefer a seat personally…
It’s actually a pretty good metaphor. People sitting on the left side and the right side of the plane are actually taking a seat whereas people sitting in the aisle are just in the fucking way.
It depends if you’re watching them from the front or the back. So it can be quite confusing.
There’s a hockey joke in there too.
There is ?
Something about the Forwards. The Left Wingers and Right Wingers if you will.
Possibly a rugby joke too
Ah i got it.
Those who wank off with left hand are left wingers and those that wank off with right hand are right winger. And none of them are gonna care about your privacy or freedom.
that helps, i guess im in the center then, since i care about the privacy and freedom
Left wing and right wing are like political vibes. They only make sense when you have more understanding of what the issues are. What they mean can change over time.
I think it’s easier to understand what the individual issues are and why people want them or don’t want them. Then you need to figure out what your ideology is and pick what things you want to support to further your political goals.
You’re probably better off not knowing. This stuff never makes a person happy.
“you’re better off not understanding systems of power that have a huge impact on your lives”
the more i know the more confused i get
You can just make up a name for whoever you don’t like and use it to dehumanize them. “Lib” is a popular stand-in when you don’t have even a tenuous grasp of global politics.
Don’t ask, don’t tell?
Might be relevant here: https://www.podcast.de/episode/619883332/089-the-myth-of-left-and-right-a-conversation-with-prof-hyrum-lewis
English episode of german podcast
In Empire (aka USA) as there is no true opposition, they’re the same picture, the same lobbyists and so on
Trump and the republicans are right winged. Biden and democrats are the left.
both halves of the USA’s two-headed uniparty are right-wing
Thanks fam that’s what i wanted to know.
Just be aware that that answer is very over-simplifying things. “Left” and “right” are supposed to signify political ideas, not certain parties or politicians. You could say that Biden is to the “left” of Trump, but most people who would call themselves “left-wing” would consider Biden a “centrist” (between left and right) at best, maybe even skewing right-wing.
Typical left-wing ideals would be working towards freedom and equality for everyone by solidarity and cooperation, whereas right-wing ideas usually focus around preserving your own privileges by suppressing whomever you consider “outsiders” or “inferiors”.
Good for you.
Now what will the rest of the world do with this info?
I’m just saying that the answer is centred on American politics. The definition of right is Republicans and left the Democrats doesn’t apply anywhere else.
Literally most of history since the black plague has been about this, so like, yeah exactly. What you gonna do?
