No Such Thing as Left and Right

The terms left and right have their origins in the French Revolution. The left were the social collectivist revolutionaries that ended the Revolution with a Reign of Terror and ultimately the formation of a Dictatorship. The right were the ones that favored a constitutional monarchy and individual rights. Many of those on the right eventually lost their heads in the guillotine to the left. These terms have morphed over the years to mean liberal (social collectivists or progressives) on the left and conservative (traditionalists or individualists) on the right. Regardless of the nuances of definition, the idea of a continuum from left to right does not paint a complete picture of competing philosophies. A more accurate portrayal of how philosophy intersects with government style work better on a two dimension XY axis chart. The X axis is the difference between respect for the individual vs the desire for social conformity. Regardless if the social conformity is racist, classist, religious or nationalist it always has the same effect, benefit to some, oppression for others. Not to say there is not danger on the opposite extreme where respect for the individual taken to the extreme can lead to an anything goes situation unless there is consensus among individuals as to what "rules" apply to all. Therefore, you can not have a good understanding of left and right unless you input the idea of centralized vs decentralized authority on the y axis. The reason is, whatever a persons ideology is of utopia, there either needs to be consensus or forced consensus to move towards the ideology. The authority moves from decentralized to centralized. An example of the continuum is the individual, family, extended family, neighborhood, church, community group, the town, the township, the county, the state, confederation of states, country, confederation of countries, world. I have noted some examples of various groups, presidents and philosophies to give and understanding of the axis. Note that Fascism is not the same as Communism. There are different nuances to the 2 philosophies, but the outcomes are similar - centralized authority which creates oppression to a group or groups of people. Not everyone will agree on each President's place along the axis, but it is good thought provoking exercise. I challenge people to read history on the reign of Woodrow Wilson and his personal philosophy and contrast that to someone like Mussolini. The similarities are eerie.

Looking beyond left and right it is very important, because of the consequences to those philosophies. Centralized most often move with left philosophies and right philosophies to remain pure must stay within decentralized governments.

The United States was originally founded as a confederation of states, but was too decentralized to insure protecting the liberties of those within and between the states. The US Constitution was the answer to balancing between individual liberties, states rights and a uniquely American Country culture. Unfortunately, our country has moved right to left and from top to bottom throughout the years to a point there are some very real similarities between our current political system and a classic fascist government.