right and left

[Loca]

Please can somebody explain what the far rightand Left thing is. And what the hell is a communist? I need to be more aware of current affairs!

[Korashk]

Don't try to understand. Left and right is a retarded system. Just learn about differing ideologies without worrying where they fall on the left/right spectrum.

[tovaris]

The devision to left and right comes from the times of the french revolution, whrn those who suported the king sat on the right side of the asambely while those who wanted a republic sat on the left side, and eversicčnce political beliefs and parties are devided like this. Those who want us to live in the stone age "sit" on the right while those who want our society to progres "sit" on the left (of course than you have diferent shades, but this is the general idea from black to read)

[Canadian Dream]

The left and right spectrum represents the different political parties/countries and what not according to their beliefs towards politics and economy. For example, the U. S. would be sitting at the far right of the spectrum, because that country believes mostly in individualism and independence, both politically and economically. That is called capitalism. Opinions vary towards this say, but I believe on of the advantages of capitalism is a striving economy, and for a disadvantage a huge gap between the poor and rich. On the other hand, or the left side, you enter the world of communism. Communism is believes notably in equality and community. Now, while those are advantages, a strong economy is really hard to manage in a communist country. To add to this, communism is often regarded in a bad way because countries that have had a communist government we're guided by corrupt people, which lead to war and all types of fun things... Well that's all I can think about for now!

[Cpt_Cutter]

For example, the U. S. would be sitting at the far right of the spectrum

I don't know what U.S you're talking about but the one on planet earth is only very slightly right, nowhere near far right. It would be far right if all it's policies coincided with fox news, but along with most western nations, the U.S is quite mid-ground.

[Vlerchan]

What Korashk said: you're much better off familiarising yourself with ideological positions as opposed to positions on a highly subjective scale. Or even better: familiarise yourself with positions on certain issues you find yourself interested in and don't bother with ideology; avoid labelling yourself if you can.

[WaffleSingSong]

Right-wing/Left-wing spectrum is not really a good scale to pin-point someone's positions, but it does help with generalizations of someone's platform. The Democrats of the U.S and the Labour of the U.K (and I guess the LibDems of the U.K too?) would be considered left on there nations spectrum, while the Republicans of the U.S and the Torys of the U.K would be considered right in there nations spectrum.

Again, I only use this for generalization purposes, but a lot of parties or people that are listed as members of the same side of the spectrum can be different in a few issues. If you add the Libertarian/Authoritarian measure with it too it's somewhat better, but still overall confusing.

Like they said above, focus on ideologies that appeal to you, don't be a Time Warner customer like me and buy it all in a bundle. Just buy the channels you like, if you will :).

Communism? http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

Simple English Wikipedia: A rarely known, but a great way to get the grasp of something.

[Canadian Dream]

I don't know what U.S you're talking about but the one on planet earth is only very slightly right, nowhere near far right. It would be far right if all it's policies coincided with fox news, but along with most western nations, the U.S is quite mid-ground.

What the hell are you talking about? If the United States are "very slightly right", then Canada is "very slightly left" and Sweden is a communist country. The United States is the country the most far right in North America, perhaps maybe even the world. Mid-ground? For god's sake the health care is privatized, and you call that mid-ground? You don't seem to know their politics very well, so please do a little research before posting.

[Walter Powers]

In terms of American politics, right means right and left means wrong :)

Communists are very left, and thus very wrong :)

[Cygnus]

In terms of American politics, right means right and left means wrong :)

Communists are very left, and thus very wrong :)

Wow, thats so biased I can't even get a grip around it, but whatever, there are other parts to debate about which is right and which is wrong.

You see the spectrum of right/left is kind of to determine how much of a capitalist or communist you are (those being the extremes) and basically on how much you like economic equity (left liking it the most) and right liking economic efficiency way more.

You shouldn't care about this spectrum though, stick to your own ideologies, you'll do better that way.

[Stronk Serb]

In terms of American politics, right means right and left means wrong :)

Communists are very left, and thus very wrong :)

By that logic, National-Socialism is right because it is further right then capitalism...

[Human]

I'm not so sure, but right is more conservative and left more liberal I believe, and I think there's an up or down too which adds another dimension:P

[irishguy123]

All I would say is be careful who's answer on here you accept because they might not even understand themselves, or are American and just label parties and people as things without fully understanding them themselves! :)

[baseballjock]

people on the far right[ my dad]listen to rush limba people on the far left [my bro] listen to barbra strieand

[tovaris]

Don't try to understand. Left and right is a retarded system. Just learn about differing ideologies without worrying where they fall on the left/right spectrum.

Whel yes... but it is still inportant to know and understand the diferance, since this is a part of our world... and at the wery leest not to look like a total idiot when people talk about said topic.

I don't know what U.S you're talking about but the one on planet earth is only very slightly right, nowhere near far right. It would be far right if all it's policies coincided with fox news, but along with most western nations, the U.S is quite mid-ground.

THe us in general is prety right... if we were to sit the countries of the world into a parlament they would be sitting on the wery right, next to n kkrea, hitlars germany...


In terms of American politics, right means right and left means wrong :)

Communists are very left, and thus very wrong :)

I was going to send you back into.... something insulting we say in the balkans...
But i rater not and yust let you and your d**s**ns be...

Oh yes
This is a good reply...

By that logic, National-Socialism is right because it is further right then capitalism...

In case any of you Yanks dont know what national socialism is
National socialism=Hitler

[tovaris]

Ups...

[AgentHomo]

Basically the right is so right they're wrong and the left is so left they're right. That's how I see it.

[Stronk Serb]

Basically the right is so right they're wrong and the left is so left they're right. That's how I see it.

Pretty much. Leftists fought for the right to vote, the right to work for 8 hours a day (sadly this is getting trumped), for equality regardless of gendef, race, sexuality and skin color.

[sieg]

im only versed in us politics so it may be different in other countries but i tell you what i've gather from being politically aware. the whole left and right wing thing is a crock of crap. they both want to screw you but for the sake of fairness ill explain briefly what they are.
The left- the left is a generally seen as the democrats or progressives. those two generally go together but of course have exceptions. the democrats are a party who go under the guise of working towards progress. they seek to do this through means of change. from my mileage, these guys are kinda difficult to debate with. of course there are people who make for a good debate but most times i've seen radicals remarks, claims of racism, twisting words, he said-she said, and pretty low-handed tactics to further their agenda which is eventually a state completely dependent on the government where everybody gets a cookie and no one has to work for it. a glorified communism.
the right- generally seen as the republicans and conservatives. started out as a party for abolitionists (people opposed to slavery) a little more tolerable in my eyes but kind of miss the main points. they use low-handed techniques just about as much as the left mostly because they have to to keep up. generally dont like fixing things that arent broken, sometime more morally inclined, waste resources focusing on debating stupid things that shouldnt even be a topic of politics, in the end, they screw you over just as much as the left.
communism-a political ideal where everyone works for the same rewards despite occupation ex. a doctor gets the same benefits as a janitor. looks good on paper, nature of people makes it a horrible idea. a bunch of people stop working, those who still do reap the same rewards for quadruple the cost.
socialism-pretty similar to communism, kind of an in-between bridge between the two.
libertarianism- my personal political ideology. essentially a laizzes faire system meaning minimal governemnt meddling, only using politics when its necesarry, letting people do what they want to do unless it's hurting other people ex: owning guns, getting married to the same sex, etc.
democratic republic- the system the us uses. we vote (like a democracy) people into positions to make decisions for us (like a repulican system.) a system as flawed as any other but it works just enough. very easily corrupted though.
I know that a lot of this is open for interpreration so thats just what this is. the way i see these systems working. there are more systems at work but those are generally third-party, including libertarianism.