Dec 142017
 

Leon Trotsky

Not all who see themselves on the Left side of the “political spectrum” actually are. Nor are many who see themselves on the Right side of that “spectrum” actually on the Right.

The true nature of the fundamental forces and ideas represented by Left and Right have been long misunderstood – both by those on the Left and Right – and this has caused a host of political misalignments that today are becoming harder and harder to ignore.

Just listen to Lindsay Shepherd and Brendan O’Neill, two voices of the Left who have come to publicly doubt their own Leftist alignments.

Lindsay Shepherd, of course, has been made famous by going public with her recent encounter with the Left at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. Brendan O’Neill, on the other hand, is a journalist who describes himself as a Marxist-Libertarian of the Left, yet expresses certain values that appear more in line with classic liberalism.

Both Shepherd and O’Neill appear to be going through the same crisis of personal identity with their own chosen alignments with the Left. Each is discovering that they have more in common today with the Right.

As was clearly and unambiguously described on Just Right 510 – The Broken Political Compass – the so-called “political spectrum” has been misrepresented and/or misunderstood by even the most enlightened of political pundits and philosophers.

Unfortunately, a proper “political spectrum” analysis was left right out of everyone’s consideration. Had this been done, the first discovery would have been that there is no “spectrum” at all – merely a polarity that is becoming more visible with each passing day.

The significance of the polarized nature of Left and Right to some of the major controversies of the day – particularly the crisis on university and college campuses across North America – cannot be understated.

Without a proper understanding of each pole, whether one identifies with either Left or Right, one can never be certain if their chosen alignment is Just Right for them.

  2 Responses to “535 – Left right out—A valid “political spectrum” analysis”

  1. Another great show Bob. Cheers R

  2. Ludwig von Mises had this observation ” Was George Sorel left wing or right wing? Both Lenin and Mussolini are his disciples. Chancellor Bismarck is generally acknowledged as the prototype of the militarist dictator, yet he also implemented the systems of unemployment insurance and old age pensions that are part of the welfare state. And it is generally understood that if Ferdinand Lasalle had not been of Jewish heritage, the Nazis would have claimed him as one of their own”.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.