--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Richard M" <compost...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "raunchydog" <raunchydog@> > wrote: > [snip] > > > > Actually the concept of a political spectrum is quite specific. > > I would agree that your assertion is not clueless. It only shows > > you are taking exception to my portrayal of conservatives as > > uncaring. The right wing believes in small government, > > unregulated markets, big military, discipline and an interest > > in controlling your personal life i.e. what happens in your > > bedroom. I'm guessing you lean right and you don't like it that > > the Republican Daddy party is getting a bad rap today. Sorry, > > my Lefty preference is showing. If you are interested in > > understanding political values of left and right, here is > > an entertaining survey you can take to discover where you are on > > the spectrum of left and right. > > > > http://www.politicalcompass.org/ > > > > I tried the survey - but I'm afraid I found I couldn't accept the > premiss of many of the questions. eg "Controlling inflation is more > important than controlling unemployment" (I think they're bound > together). > > "I'm guessing you lean right". Well do I? I think you (like many > lefties) confuse liberals, libertarians, authoritarians, nationalists, > and plonk them all together in one bag "the Right". Not only that, but > for your ilk the Left are the white knights (and knightesses of > course). The Right are the bad guys. > > "You don't like it that the Republican Daddy party is getting a bad rap > today". Well no, I'm agnostic. I don't know enough about US politics. I > believe that your centre ground is probably way to the right of our > (Brit) centre ground though. And we have just had over a decade of > power for our "Left" party (Labour). Under this very Left government > (by your standards) we have had: > > * much "bigger" government (that's true) > * less regulated markets (or more accurately, incompetently regulated > markets) > * big military and plenty of war > * draconian initiatives on discipline (but ineffective) > * a huge growth in the attempt to control our personal lives with a > phenomenal growth in surveillance in particular. > > I should say I don't care much for any of those trends. So you see > plenty of your right wing flotsam drifts in on the leftist tide! >
Well, I guess we're about even. I know as much about British politics as you do about American politics. Maybe we can learn something from each other. Liberal politics that go too far left can be just as detrimental to good governance as Conservatives too far right. Fortunately, the pendulum swings during elections and we get a chance to throw the bums out. Far left and far right values will remain in tact for many folks, but it is always the swing voter who determines the outcome of an election. The reason the Republican party is in such shambles, is that the far right is very energized during primary elections and politicians since Reagan have had to pander to them in order to make it to a general election. Consequently, the Republicans have ended up with a very small hardcore base whose agenda centers around hot button social issues i.e. anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti-illegal immigration, anti-taxation, pro-business, pro-gun, pro-military, and pro-small government. They have become the party of "NO." Libertarians are happy with minimal government interference as well but don't care about social hot buttons. Surveillance is worrisome. Whether Left or Right, surveillance is ultimately about controlling the governed under the guise of "protecting" the governed. Once that technological genie is out of the bottle, no party, no matter who, will cede power by reversing course on surveillance. Gordon Brown isn't going to pull the plug on cameras watching you take a crap in a London loo anytime soon and Obama isn't going to reverse FISA anytime soon either. I believe people have definable political values. I took the political compass survey and ended up spot on with the Dalai Lama. The question, "Controlling inflation is more important than controlling unemployment," just wants your best guess on that one question to see if in the aggregate of questions you lean left or right. It seems to me, concern about controlling inflation means you think a right-leaning government should protect business and the consumer, and controlling unemployment means you think a left-leaning government should protect labor. What were your results on the survey?
