bolil
01-18-2012, 03:07 PM
I have always wondered, why is the distinction between political leanings evaluated on a single axis? What is the etymology of those designations? So I guess I would just like to read some of your thoughts on this matter, provided you are willing to share them.
My personal opinion, being an eternal skepticynic, is these distinctions, which I understand are pretty much accepted as synonyms for conservative (right) and progressive (left), have the implicit purpose of pressing people into cells in a way that intentionally dilutes, or degrades, individuality. Myself, I am a conservative (Extreme right) when it comes to the constitution and a progressive (Extreme left) when it comes to individual liberty, further more it seems to me that those positions are mutually inclusive. If I am both far left and far right, does that make me center? It can't, because when I talk to self-avowed rightest I seem to become a leftist, and vice versa.
Or is the reason for these distinctions more diabolical? A concerted effort to permeate a so-called "bi-party" system that most on this forum understand is just a same-party-two-name system. Is the reason, then, for the designations of right and left being so often bandied about to provide evidence of the existence of a choice, even though that evidence is illusory?
Ron Paul really throws this "common knowledge" for a loop. To Fox, he is left of Obama... To CNN he is right of...er...they never come out and say it but is it not implied?... Hitler.
My personal opinion, being an eternal skepticynic, is these distinctions, which I understand are pretty much accepted as synonyms for conservative (right) and progressive (left), have the implicit purpose of pressing people into cells in a way that intentionally dilutes, or degrades, individuality. Myself, I am a conservative (Extreme right) when it comes to the constitution and a progressive (Extreme left) when it comes to individual liberty, further more it seems to me that those positions are mutually inclusive. If I am both far left and far right, does that make me center? It can't, because when I talk to self-avowed rightest I seem to become a leftist, and vice versa.
Or is the reason for these distinctions more diabolical? A concerted effort to permeate a so-called "bi-party" system that most on this forum understand is just a same-party-two-name system. Is the reason, then, for the designations of right and left being so often bandied about to provide evidence of the existence of a choice, even though that evidence is illusory?
Ron Paul really throws this "common knowledge" for a loop. To Fox, he is left of Obama... To CNN he is right of...er...they never come out and say it but is it not implied?... Hitler.