Left vs Right - Political Differences

[TGHusker]

I came across this interesting link when looking at left/right violence.  It does a decent job of defining political differences between the 2.   While it lists differences on various subjects, it is probably rare that a person is 100% left or 100% right.  Even with that, on an individual subject a person can be in between - the moderate.

 

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Left_Wing_vs_Right_Wing

 

The fundamental differences between left-wing and right-wing ideologies center around the the rights of individuals vs. the power of the government. Left-wing beliefs are liberal in that they believe society is best served with an expanded role for the government. People on the right believe that the best outcome for society is achieved when individual rights and civil liberties are paramount and the role — and especially the power — of the government is minimized.

Examples of an expanded role for the government include entitlement programs such as social security and Medicare, Medicaid, universal healthcare, food stamps, free public education, unemployment benefits, strong environmental laws, and other regulations on industries. Right wing ideology would favor market-based solutions to the issues that these government programs aim to tackle. For example, encouraging a freer marketplace for healthcare, driven by consumer choice to drive down costs. Or privately held retirement accounts like 401(k) plans instead of government-guaranteed Social Security

Origins in France

The political terms left wing and right wing originated in the 18th century during the French Revolution. They are based on the seating arrangements in the French National Assembly — those who sat on the left of the chair of the parliamentary president supported the revolution and a secular republic, and opposed the monarchy of the old regime. The people on the left were in favor of radical change, socialism and republicanism i.e. a strong French republic instead of the monarchy.

Those who sat to the right supported the institutions of the monarchist old regime or Ancien Régime. The stronger your opposition to radical change and desire to preserve traditional society, the more you were to the right. Tradition, institutional religion and privatization of economy were considered the core values of the right-wing

Left Wing	Right Wing
Political Philosophy	Liberal	Conservative
Economic Policy	Income equality; higher tax rates on the wealthy; government spending on social programs and infrastructure; stronger regulations on business.	Lower taxes and less regulation on businesses; reduced government spending; balanced budget;
Healthcare Policy	Believe that access to healthcare is one of the fundamental rights of all citizens. Support universal healthcare, the Affordable Care Act, expansion of Medicare and Medicaid.	Oppose government-provided universal healthcare and the Affordable Care Act. Favor competition to Medicare from private insurance companies; oppose Medicaid expansion.
Immigration Policy	Pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants; moratorium on deportations or prosecutions of undocumented immigrants who are young adults and have no criminal record.	No "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants; stronger border patrol and fence to check illegal immigration. Belief that illegal immigration is lowering wages for citizens and documented immigrants.
Education Policy	Favor expanded free, public education.	Believe parents who want to home-school their kids or send them to private school should be able to get vouchers for opting out of the public school system. Generally not opposed to Public education.
Views on Abortion	Generally in favor of abortion rights, and stem cell research.	Generally against abortion and opposed to stem cell research.
Views on Gay Rights	Generally support gay marriage; support anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBT against workplace discrimination.	Generally opposed to gay marriage; opposed to certain anti-discrimination laws because they believe such laws conflict with certain religious beliefs and restrict freedom of religion.
Views on Gun Rights	In favor of gun control laws like background checks or waiting periods before buying a gun; banning automatic weapons; and disallowing concealed weapons.	Strongly opposed to gun control laws; strong proponents of the Second Amendment.
Voter ID Laws	Against voter ID laws citing undue burden on lower income groups causing them to be disenfranchised.	For voter identification laws to combat voter fraud.
% of U.S. population self-identifying	23%	38%
Associated Political Parties	Democratic Party, Green, Socialist	Republican Party; Libertarians; Constitutional Party
Associated Media	The New York Times, MSNBC	National Review, Fox News
Ideologies	Social Democracy; Federalism; Socialism, Communism; Collectivism; Marxism	Capitalism; Conservatism
Famous Proponents of Ideology	Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Einstein, Barack Obama, Francois Hollande, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, Noam Chomsky, Warren Buffett.	Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, George Washington, Winston Churchill, George W. Bush, Mitch McConnell, Rupert Murdoch, Rush Limbaugh, Tony Abbott, Mitt Romney

[TGHusker]

OK I went to some websites to take a quiz about how conservative or liberal that I am.  I tried to freeze out political discussion and just listen to my heart.  I challenge you to take the same quizzes,  you may be surprised by the results as I have been.  Of course it is all about the questions asked, how they are asked and the limited choices - so the results may be somewhat tainted.

http://www.quizony.com/just-how-liberal-or-conservative-are-you

 

You are:

Somewhat Liberal

You believe in equal rights for everyone. You tend to lean toward the left in areas of policy and government, but you do believe that people should play a strong role in fending for themselves, and you are open to arguments from your right-wing friends

https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/personality/quizshow.php?title=are-you-liberal-conservative&q=1

ME

Ok, pretty shocked by this one but yet I tried to be as honest as possible -

You got: Liberal
You believe in governmental action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all, and that it is the duty of the State to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights.  Believe the role of the government should be to guarantee that no one is in need.  Believe that people are basically good.    Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve people's problems   http://www.gotoquiz.com/conservative_or_liberal ME: You scored 63% which means you are   63% Moderately conservative. You believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values.   http://www.liberalorconservativequiz.org/ Much more reading on this quiz.  My results: 20 of your answers (62%) are consistent with Conservative positions     http://www.people-press.org/quiz/political-typology/ This is a unique website which divides political leanings into multiple sectors ME: Your best fit is... Faith and Family Left along with 15% of the public. The Faith and Family Left combine strong support for activist government with conservative attitudes on many social issues. They are very racially diverse – this is the only typology group that is “majority-minority.” The Faith and Family Left generally favor increased government aid for the poor even if it adds to the deficit and believe that government should do more to solve national problems. Most oppose same-sex marriage and legalizing marijuana and most say religion and family are at the center of their lives Ideological Placement Distribution of Faith and Family Left and the overall public on a 10-item scale of political values. Learn more about the scale. Faith and Family Left make up 15% of the population

[Kiyoat Husker]

One thing to keep in mind is that the definition of L/R wing, or Liberal/Conservative is not a static, unchanging thing.  It is dynamic, and has evolved separately in the United States vs other countries.  For example, in England liberals are considered right-wing, with the term referring to less governmental regulations (kind-of makes sense, right?).

 

Another example is the two current American party's views on the civil rights of minorities.  The Republicans started out as an anti-slavery party.  That's why Abe Lincoln was a Republican, and why southern whites were solidly Democrat for many decades.  This all changed with the civil rights movement in the 1960's, with Barry Goldwater, and then Richard Nixon courting the southern white vote over to the Republican party on an anti-civil rights stance.  The conversion of the south was complete by the time Reagan won in a landslide there.  It has changed the character of the two parties to this day. (on that one issue)

 

Another example is calling Hitler a "Socialist".  While the name of the Nazi party used the term, and some early Nazi leaders (prior to Hitler's involvement) were proponents of somewhat socialist policies, Hitler himself hated socialists and communists as much as he hated Jews.  He reshaped the party into a fascist group with a race-based ideology.

 

Of course, an unbiased understanding of history can be hard to come by, and propagandaists can easily warp views based on simple misunderstandings of the changes in terminology....

[TGHusker]

IA - I agree with all of your points.  In the same way L/R definition is not static in our nation, I've found it is not static personally  - and I don't think it should be.  I think we should always be learning. And the best learning is what we get from "the other side".  Reinforcing our own static view point causes stagnation of growth personally and ends up dividing us nationally as we have seen in recent events.    I've actually reacquainted myself with NPR and have enjoyed listening to it.  It doesn't leave me stressed out like listening to conservative talk radio. 

 

Someone posted on another thread a few weeks ago (maybe it was you) about the Dems and Repubs 'changing ideologies' back in the 30s-40s.  I've been thinking about that.  It is remarkable the changes but I think you see it more on the state level - esp in the south.     Yes, the republicans want to bring out the race card against the dems (party of the KKK, slavery, segregation, blocking access to school doors,  Eisenhower's civil rights efforts, 1964 CR bill primarily passed due to Repub votes, Robert Byrd, etc) however since then it has been a 'what have the repubs done lately' issue. The Dems have shown a wiliness to overcome their past and act.  The republicans based most of their civil rights/affirmative action efforts primarily in policies of growing the economy and free enterprise.  While it is important that 'trickle down' works it way to the average American regardless of color, acute problems demand more direct action that only govt can provide.  Here repubs have been short of original ideas that work.  I'm trying to figure out why this disconnect - is it the sellout to corporate America, the ideology shift from the 30s and 40s ( I think it occurred in the late 60s starting wt Nixon - revolt against riots, drug culture, etc).  

But in saying that I'm not saying Repubs are anti - welfare - just anti-big govt growth in welfare.  It would be political suicide to think you can end or drastically curtail the social safety net that is in place.  I think the issue is that the Repubs too often think the main solutions come from the private sector when in reality some problems can only be addressed adequately by govt.  The repubs would be better served to attack waste in the defense budget, foreign aid, and other non-social programs & adjust the tax structure to help the poor, than to short change the poor and disadvantaged here in the USA.

'

[Kiyoat Husker]

27 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

I'm not saying Repubs are anti - welfare - just anti-big govt growth in welfare....

...I think the issue is that the Repubs too often think the main solutions come from the private sector when in reality some problems can only be addressed adequately by govt.  The repubs would be better served to attack waste in the defense budget, foreign aid, and other non-social programs ...

'

 

I disagree that Republicans are not anti-welfare.  I believe that the conservative dislike for welfare is more ideology than a fiscal policy.  Especially when you consider that many studies have de-bunked most of the myths associated with the arguments against welfare.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with the two bolded statements above, though.  Consumer protections from corporate interests can never be accomplished without some kind of oversight, for example.  Same goes for protecting the public from toxic pollution.

 

Attacking wasteful spending and inefficiencies in government is a worthy goal IMO, wherever that waste exists.  I can say that even as a fairly liberal person.  When it comes down to it, deficit spending isn't really a tenable political stand.  You can argue all you want about the size of government, but spending more than you have shouldn't happen.  Just as the Republicans imply, but never say they are "anti-choice" on abortion, Democrats imply, but never say we are "pro-taxes".  If you are for a large government, you can't be for lower taxes.  (unless you are indifferent to deficit spending.)

[TGHusker]

Whether  it be ideology or fiscal policy, it is in their  self preserving self- interest to show restraint in how they handle social programs.  They may be chafed by it around the collar but it is the political reality.