Left wing vs right wing

I'm sure we have all heard about left-wing politics and right-wing politics. This is generally thought of as a political spectrum. What does this political spectrum even mean?



There have always been multiple factors when looking at the two sides. Historically, nationalism was probably the strongest. Modern usage relates more to association with major political parties. In the United States, the Democrats are considered to be the left while Republicans are considered to be the right.

This gets downright bizarre when you look at how the extremes have typically been defined. The extreme left is usually considered to be anarchy. The extreme right is considered to be fascism. To me, this seems completely backwards.

Fascism can be a bit tricky. There is no consensus on what qualifies as fascism. Most historians seem to agree that they took concepts from both left-wing and right-wing sources. Because they were anti-Marxist, which was firmly classified on the left side of the spectrum, they insisted on classifying fascism as hard right. If you look a little deeper into fascism, you will find that many fascist leaders has Marxist background. In a sense, fascism could be viewed as an offshoot of Marxism. To insist that they should be treated as opposites due to some strong disagreements is a bit of a stretch.

Although there were influences on fascism, it was Benito Mussolini who initiated the concept known as fascism. He wrote part of the Doctrine of Fascism. I want to share one quote of his from this document.

If the nineteenth was the century of the individual it may be expected that this one may be the century of "collectivism" and therefore the century of the State.

Be honest. Does this sound more in line with the views of the Democrats or the Republicans? To me, there is no question. Mussolini embraced views strikingly similar to today's Democratic party.

Again, the political spectrum is not that simple. There were ways in which fascists were closer to the Republicans. There are also issues with differences of opinions regarding the meaning of fascism.

The opposite side of the spectrum seems even more absurd. The Democrats are believers in big government. Although people don't want to hear this, there is no question that their views have reached oppressive levels. What do we consider to be the extreme version of a big and oppressive government? Anarchy, which is the lack of government.

If we absolutely had to embrace a linear political spectrum, it would make far more sense to swap fascism and anarchy. Of course, a linear political spectrum is absolute nonsense. Your views on capitalism and socialism should not be tied to your views on such things as homosexuality. Your views on the environment should not dictate your views on the constitution. These are all very different topics.

There have been some attempts to create more complex political spectrums. While these can prove more reasonable than this left/right nonsense, they suffer many of the same faults. They are too shallow and arbitrary. You simply can't put the principles of each system of political beliefs on a chart. For that reason, I would much rather actually look at political beliefs than to look at a scale.