What is your definition of left or right?

I forgot to post my results


www.politicalcompass.org...

To me leftist views introduce a lot of contradictions. The leftist philosophy seems to be about equal opportunity. Yet this is impossible because people are not born equal (one person might be smarter or than another) and granting equal opportunity involves taking away something from someone and giving it to another. So granting equal opportunity really is taking away equal opportunity at the same time.

Redistribution of wealth is another leftist means to equality yet is it really equal when the guy who is better at making money has to lose out because another guy isn't as good?

And last of all(that I care to mention), who is gonna enforce all this equality? It seems that every time a new Utopian leftist society is created, a ruling elite emerges that is totally in contradiction to the "equality" ideals.

But the positives about leftist philosophy is its general opposition to entrenched corruption and establishment abuses. If one section of society is abusing another section, then a change is needed to equalize the situation.

Unfortunately in many cases it is usually leftist pushing for equality that is the establishment whose means for pushing for equality is monopolizing power and being unequal in themselves.

Right wing views are appealing in that the government is limited and generally would leave me along.

The problem with pure right wing philosophy is that it only works in a perfect world where greed and racism don't exist. Right wing societies tend to breed corruption due to the desire for the preservation of established norms.

Free markets might be good but when someone starts taking over because they can work the system better, it can destroy the free markets and usher in a monopoly and plutocracy under the guise of a free market. The conservative dealing with this problem cannot remain conservative because breaking a plutocracy would be counter to the free market ideal yet the only way to preserve it. A conservative that staunchly defends the free market ideal of non-intervention in the markets assuming a natural free market correction is in fact corrupting the free market by not instituting change to clean out the corruption.

In my opinion the left-right conflict is a good thing. It cleans out the established corruption and attempts to make sure the guys on top don't screw around. It also fosters individual achievement for a better life which helps out society in general.

the idea of equal opportunity doesnt mean each is given a chance to be millionaires, it means equal Social opportunity without descrimination due to race or class or sex. Naturally there is still the ability factor, which equal opportunity was never meant to cancel out. As to the left right conflict being a good thing....perhaps it is. The only problem with it is that as i said before, the left is majority poor, with a few rich who have managed to find their consciences. The right however, have the majority of the money and power, so the flux between left and right is strongly tilted to the right, and grows more so everyday, where greed has become the norm of our government policy, and strictures are constantly legislated into place to assure it remains so.

If you need proof of what i just said, just look at how much legislation lately takes away the rights of people, vs when is the last time you saw legislation Granting people more rights and freedoms?

reply to post by pexx421


The rich backing the right or belonging to the right exclusively is untrue.

The Rockefeller family, Ted Turner, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Maurice Strong, Ford Foundation, Pew Charitable Trust, the Nature Conservancy, the American Bar Association, Hollywood and the AMA to name a few are largely leftist yet are extremely wealthy.

The amount of billionares that support the democrat party are huge. Most industries support the Democrat party by a large percentage. Only a few like oil and automotive industry support the Republicans. Most leftist in the country live in the rich coastal areas such as New York, Los Angeles, the Bay Area or large rich cities like Chicago. Most people who identify with the right are usually in rural mid America areas. There are exceptions to this but they are few and far between.

In a funny way it is almost like the left is the establishment in order to promote and enforce leftist causes but are contradictory to the leftist philosophy in general.

This probably has a very "easy" answer, but I always wondered (being a foreigner), why are people saying "Coming out of the left field" when something is odd or out of the norm? Is that in reference to the right wing coming down on left wing morals, or is it just something sports related?

The rockefeller family? your kidding right? John rockefeller became what he did by being the best at robbing and stealing, by nickel and diming so much that his employers often died on the job. He was a Massive rightist. I see what the problem is, you are confusing left and right with democrat and republican. The problem is that most dems and pubs, as you can see in our congress, are interchangeable. Gates, and the others you named are by no means leftists, they dont support socialist ideologies, they are hardcore capitalists.

Warren buffet may point out leftist ideas, but he certainly doesnt push them, and ted turner, ford, and THE AMA are anything BUT!!! the AMA has been fighting socialization and equal care for the poor since its inception! you must not be feeling well, you dont seem to be thinking clearly. The ama is one of the most corporate minded organizations we have, with dictatorial dreams of control over our choices of healthcare, ready to sacrifice a life for a dollar at the drop of a dime. Ive been working in hospitals for years, and i know.

Here is my simple definition of the difference between right and left wing: Left wingers stand up to people more powerful than them. Right wingers stand up to people weaker than them. Seems ironic to me that Left is equated with "wimp" and Right with "tough guy" when it should be the other way around.

Economic theory:

The left (socialsim) implies more government control (regulation), the right (capitalism) less control (deregulation).

Political theory:

The left (libertarian) is decentralized (anarchy), the right (fascism) is highly centralized.

Social theory:

The left is progressive (liberal), while the right is more conservative.


Most people get confused by the fact that the left economically calls for more control, but politically less control, and vice versa. The one thing that unites these is that the left is progressive while the right is more conservative.

So both capitalism and fascism are considered conservative because they are closer to how things were traditionally done. Whereas both socialsim and liberalism are considered progressive policies.

The left generally calls for change, whereas the right likes to keep the status quo.

-Note that communism is generally considered to be the combination of socialism and fascism.

[edit on 12/1/09 by Cthulwho]

IMO and I'm no authority on this at all.

left - socialism, ecology, unions, civil liberties, atheism, pro-choice.

right - fascism, corporate fascism, police state, neo-nazis, neo-conservatives, evangelicals, racists, sexists, bigots, anti-semites (not to be confused with anti-Zionism), and other religious discrimations; pro-life, Big Brother in George Orwelian style.

The right is heads.
The left is tails.
They are on the coin called taxes.
They don't give a damn what you believe because both sides are attached to your money.

I am sooooo balanced!

No wonder I have so many enemies!


www.politicalcompass.org..." target='_blank' class='tabOff'/>

Originally posted by Rumpelstiltskin
Here is my simple definition of the difference between right and left wing: Left wingers stand up to people more powerful than them. Right wingers stand up to people weaker than them.

Well, there may be a very simple explanation for that, if you think about it.

Originally posted by jsobecky

Originally posted by Rumpelstiltskin
Here is my simple definition of the difference between right and left wing: Left wingers stand up to people more powerful than them. Right wingers stand up to people weaker than them.

Well, there may be a very simple explanation for that, if you think about it.

I don't know what you mean. Please elaborate. Thanks.

reply to post by Trexter Ziam


If you read my post you'll see that all the things you classified as left are considered progressive policies. All the things you classified as right are conservative policies.

So the key is:

Left = Progressive (Change, new, modern)
Right = Conservative (Status quo, traditional, old style)