In high school and college I was taught that along the political spectrum we have communists on the left and fascists on the right. I have heard many others outside of a school setting use this view many, many times as well. I must say that I have always absolutely despised this view of things. Come with me now and learn why.
First off, if I have Stalin on the left and Hitler on the right where can a fella go to not be bossed around or killed for beliefs or ethnicity? On the left we have crap and on the right we have crap, how can this “spectrum” suddenly become more pleasant when it gets halfway between the two views? Most people don’t know that this view of right “wing” and left “wing” refers to seating arrangements in French parliament during the 1700’s. The people on the left were the commoners and the people on the right were the fat cats. The left side extended to views such as socialism and communism because such views claim to work for the little guy and the right side extended to crony capitalism and government being in bed with business for obvious reasons. The “wings” view sucks as it leaves me without a place to sit. But that is not the only reason that it sucks. Both ends of this spectrum begin with a premise that I reject outright and that is; that government should have a certain level of power that is beyond what I will allow. The right side in this view wants business to grow in size and power along with the government and the left side wants government to grow in size and power as it controls what people have. Both options sound horrible. Much of the beauty of the American Way is that bad guys are supposed to fail and not be bailed out and that little guys can get ahead and become big guys without then having what they have earned taken from them in equalization efforts.
There are many versions and views of the political spectrum, many of which have obvious flaws. One of the most popular and one that I have the least issues with is the Nolan Chart. This chart has four Superman symbol shapes (Truth, Justice and the American Way, aaaahhhhyeah!!) around a centrist square. This view shifts from right-left to North, South, East and West where communism and fascism would be more correctly near each other on the bottom. Here is my result:
One flaw in this is, of course, a flaw in every political name assignment game. It ignores other situations and takes only my approach to federal government and could give the appearance that that is how I am in all situations. I had a star right at the north of the libertarian shape. If the survey had been about interaction with others of my own free will I would have been deep in the liberal section. If it had been about how I personally conduct my life it would have been deep conservative. I do not see a situation in which I would ever venture to the statist or centrist regions. Another problem is that it, as do most other views, has liberal being opposite of conservative. Liberal the way it was classically meant focused on allowing freedom for individuals. Conservatism is focused on preserving traditional things that are viewed as positive. These are not opposite from each other. Conservatism is the opposite of progressivism. Progressivism and statism are also opposite liberalism. When I say that I am liberal in relation to interaction with others I do not mean the popular meaning of today where I want to force people to pay for my health care or to wipe with one square to save the environment. I mean that I want to allow others to do as they will, as long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others. When I say that I am conservative in my personal living I do not mean, as many have a view of today, that I want to bailout corporations and start up a PATRIOT act. The definitions have been skewed from their original meaning. Most people have taken these changed definitions and made them a big part of their worldview.
Another way of looking at things which I like, which makes things much more clear as to why the most popular spectrum is dumb, is the Law spectrum.
This helps to explain my uneasiness with a view that has total government on both ends. This view sums up what the American founders were thinking very well. They did not want another tyrant and they didn’t want to just have anarchy. The system they set up allowed bad guys to fail and little guys to grow. Under this system groups of people could come together of their own volition and disperse their incomes amongst each other if they wanted without government involvement at all. It also allows people the freedom to be greedy jerks or to do other things that are not “nice” but are not infringing on the rights of other people.
If I were someone seeking power and control I would definitely want the popular “wing” political view to prevail and be taught as it would make people feel as though they must have some form of imposing government and they should pick their favorite of the sides.
If you follow the Nolan link and take the survey let me know your results below.
