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Often, political debates are discussed in terms of right and left wing stances, also referred to as Liberal and Conservative. Democrats tend toward the left, and Republicans towards the right. But just what does it mean to be right or left? What basic principles and stances underlie left wing and right wing politics? Finally, are there any other options? If so, what might they be, and what would they make possible? The basic stances of right and left wing political stances can be understood in terms of where each side wants governmental control, and where each side wants freedom of choice to be made by the individual. It is accurate to describe the stances of right and left as polar opposites. However, they are not the only stances one can take, and many, if not most people fit in neither the right nor the left halves of the spectrum. In order to differentiate between our various choices, let us examine right and left in a matrix of two options.
On the horizontal axis, we have left wing and right wing. On the vertical axis, we have two arenas of life, the
personal and the economic.
For example, the liberal left typically fights for freedom of sexuality, dress, speech, abortion, etc. (private
life), while at the same time promoting state control to "protect the consumer" through regulation of
business and tax supported welfare programs to guarantee "entitlements" and support "progressive
education and the arts" (economic life). For example, the conservative right typically fights against taxation for entitlements, financial support of "immoral" artists, and bureaucratic business regulations (economic life), while at the same time promoting legislation codifying "family values" and state control of sexuality (homosexuality, promiscuity), pornography, etc.(private life). This mixing of freedom with state control leads to contradictions within each stance and tremendous confusion when attempting to understand the philosophical foundations of Liberalism and Conservatism, left and right. Hence we can begin to understand why "left and right wing," and "Liberal and Conservative" are imprecise and vague terms used in different ways at different times. One challenge of this mixture of state control and freedom of choice is that people are usually lumped into one or the other category, which can lead to political confusion. In order to complete this picture and clarify the various choices we have available to us, let us examine the three other central political philosophical positions. Other terms which we can use to complete our understanding of the principle which underlie political stances include Totalitarianism, Capitalism/Libertarianism, and Anarchism. When we combine all of these political stances into one chart, we come up with the following:
Stalin and Hitler wanted state control of our personal lives, and state control of our economic lives. Anarchists promote personal and economic freedom AND they want every one to provide their own protection, and their own justice.
-- This last stance is what is summed up in the idea of Capitalism. Capitalism is the economic system that promotes and protects private property. In a pure capitalistic system, our rights to life, libety and property are protected by law, and each citizen is allowed to spend their money (use thier property) accourding to thier conscience. Captialism provides both economic and social fredom for the individual. It is this 1) dual freedom; combined with 2) protection from interpersonal force and fraud provided by a government that is limited by objective laws (and the separation of powers) that made the early USA the most productive phenomenon in human history. We created a military to protect us from the foreign use of force against us; police to protect us from the use of force against us by our neighbors; and a court system to enforce contracts and protect us from the use of fraud against us. Other than that, we were basically free to live our lives in liberty, and pursue our own happiness as we deemed fit. This was the finest example of capitalism the world has ever known. With this freedom from force and fraud economically, and the freedom from force and fraud in our personal lives, we unleashed the power of capitalism, created more wealth, and raised the standard of living for the average citizen faster than anything ever imagined in the past. The countries with the most freedom advanced the fastest, and the countries with the least freedom were left behind. We must have BOTH economic and personal freedom, AND the objective law prohibiting the use of force or fraud for Capitalism to exist, and for it to work its wonders. Anarchy provides the former, but not the latter, and so will never lead to the productivity and progressive growth exhibited by the USA. Currently, our mixture of right and left wing political parties leads to a mixed economy, mixed up laws, and mixed results. We have the right to private property, unless the legislature decided to take some of it to pay for a social program (welfare, the NEA, etc.). We have the right to personal freedom, unless that freedom makes certain groups uncomfortable (homosexuality, pornography). Our laws in these areas have become subjective and somewhat arbitrary, with the best lobbyists and best funded interest groups determining social policy. Our fundamental freedoms are being legislated away to appease the liberals who want the government to make the world more "equal", and the conservatives who want the government to make the world more "moral". The mixed philosophical premises at the heart of left and right, liberal and conservative cannot help but drag us down the slippery slope towards the socialism of the United Kingdom, and most of Europe. Good-bye American Freedom, Good-bye American Dream. To think that our Founding Fathers and Mothers risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor so that Mapelthorpe's art could be supported by tax payers, companies that own "too much market share" can be split apart, and homosexuals could be denied the right to a marriage recognized by the state.. To the degree that we can get back to the freedom of our private life, and freedom in our economic life, and strengthen our commitment to the prohibition of force and fraud (especially by the government) we can re-invigorate our great nation and create more prosperity for everyone who is willing to work for it. We can re-create the American Dream and express the heart of America in freedom.
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