I think this comment thread is a good example of how one goes down hill pretty quickly. We can't even agree on what "right wing" actually means because of the old spectrum/continuum problem with defining right wing and left wing politics. Now, I'm no scientist, but I think you have a real problem when you allegedly have a spectrum, but the poles seem to resemble one another in many practical characteristics; the practical difference between allegedly right wing Fascism and left-wing Communism is like the difference between violent and blue light. One of my favorite delineations between Fascism and Communism is the alleged racism of the former (the Italian Fascists were not particularly racist), with the alleged non-racism of the latter. This ignores the fact that Fascism, National Socialism and Communist worldviews are based on a dichotomy between two classes who are locked in a struggle against one another. For the Nazis, it was the Aryan race versus the world, for the Communists it was the proletariat versus the capitalist class and its allies.
This is why a divide between collectivism and individualism is the one spectrum that makes sense. Even then, it is problematic because people may be individualistic in one way, and collectivist in another that defies an easy labeling along a spectrum line. Still, it makes more sense than pretending that you have a coherent spectrum when "extreme right and extreme left look the same in practice."
This is why a divide between collectivism and individualism is the one spectrum that makes sense. Even then, it is problematic because people may be individualistic in one way, and collectivist in another that defies an easy labeling along a spectrum line. Still, it makes more sense than pretending that you have a coherent spectrum when "extreme right and extreme left look the same in practice."
please can some clever person explain to me what sort of government we have in this country - i know it is probably neither lefr nor right wing but IS it exactly? i would like to educate myself about politics and would appreciate some help!!
thanks
kat
It's all over the place. It's what happens when you have a government that was designed a long time ago for one purpose, and then progressively twisted and modified into different roles by a squabbling committee of ideological malcontents from across the spectrum.
Or, more succinctly, ours is the duckbill platypus of republics.
[Feel free to quote me on this, if your question is for a class. However, odds are not good that it will get you a good grade unless your teacher or professor has a very cynical sense of humor.]