Left or right

There seems to be a great deal of animosity between the left/liberals and the right/conservatives/republicans, and ive been surprised with how many people seem to agrivated by either side being attacked (libertard and other non-words).

I guess i assumed that most people actively involved in a forum like this wouldnt align themselves with such polarized political philosophies.

So my question is for the left/right subscribers on this forum.

What does being left/right mean to you?

The Left/Right paradigm to me seems like following a football team, its just blindly accepting anything that is done in the name of your "team".

I believe very few people are genuinely completely Left or Right and the ones that are always come across as rabid and unstable.

Most people are centrists at heart and merely follow the left/right thing when it suits their agenda

a reply to: wheresthebody

The left/right spectrum is too linear for the real world. I prefer to argue against which team is the most smug in their self-satisfaction.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

They all seem pretty smug to me, how can you decide? Hah

a reply to: wheresthebody

That's true, at least until I turn on any form of media. talk shows, comedians, academia, news, celebrities, movies—all advertise a smugness of one side over the other.

a reply to: wheresthebody

Right=freedom

Left=control

Since you asked left/right instead of democrat/republican that's as simple as I can make it.

a reply to: wheresthebody

Depends on what member-countries and politics youre referring to? The U.S? U.K? Russia? Greece?

I think the right and left are vastily different in that regard as we have 300,000+ ATS'rs in all countries worldwide that youre asking....

We have some in Democratic countries, oppressive regimes, Communists, dictatorships etc...and right wing and left wing are perceived differently in each...right?
MS

*PS And each of the above expresses their country's basic r and lt philosophies...as pertaining to that country. Maybe the LEFT wing in another...is perceived as RIGHT by others elsewhere.

I like to think of myself as in the middle. I like some of the ideas of the left, and some of the right.

The problem of the whole left/right thing is that I think most people are middle of the road, but we are only ever presented with two options, left and right. This causes people to try and align themselves with one side or the other. Because they are trying to find the least reprehensible side, they go into some sort of cognitive dissonance where their conscious brains tune out the views of their side that they don't like and it causes their unconscious brain to go into overdrive trying to defend their side based on the few things they do like. Add to this that both sides seem to be retreating towards extremes and it causes a lot of chaos.

I think this is where a lot of the fervor and hatred comes from. People are so unconsciously unsure of their own party, that any minor insult is an assault on their entire ego.

a reply to: wheresthebody

I consider myself a liberal.

I want more freedoms, less laws.

a reply to: DBCowboy

I am genuinely curious, I mean no harm,just want to ask you a question DB.

Do you mean libertarian? Or liberal?

Or both?

Respectfully,
~meathead

a reply to: Mike Stivic

Liberal.

Classical liberal. Not the "banning" "make a billion laws" currently calling themselves liberal, liberal.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Gotchya

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity

Respectfully,
~meathead

It always seems to me that the media loves to play the american public against each other by stimulating such polarization (everyone knows a house divided against itself is easy to conquer!).

I find I have the instinct to oppose any extreme I find myself confronted with, as if I have a natural drive to find balance in any immediate context. I'll end up arguing a side I don't usually even agree with, just to counter balance.
As if that will make the overall context we are in together complete.

I suspect others have the same drive. When I choose to stick with individual moderation instead, I often am met with a lot of hostility by both sides. Sometimes I think it is simply because in doing so, I am sort of remaining "detached" and not part of this whole context/moment we are sharing. Like being moderate and reasonable is unsocial.

a reply to: wheresthebody

Well I'm not on the silly two option spectrum of US politics. But I am liberal on social items, middling on financial, and a barbarian on the safety of my family and loved ones.

Basicall... what other options do you have?

New Zealand has multiple parties, multiple options. Just like life.

Two sides of the same coin.
Two wings of the same eagle.