Left and Right wings?

Flavus Aquila

Flavus Aquila

Finding My Place in the Sun
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Theories? (please)

What is the difference between left and right wings in various fields:

economics/politics/ethics/religion/social/etc.

What accounts for the difference between the left and right in these areas?



Perhaps typology may have some bearing, but if so, it seems to be tenuous at best.
 
I think a lot of it is ethnic up bringing
 
You mean, like for example, a person who is raised in the Balkans will probably be right wing and a person raised in a New York apartment will probably be left wing?
 
I'm thinking is a misconception spread by american media.

I'm an Imperialistic Libertarian with socialist leanings and also a strong belief in economic darwinism.
 
I'm not an expert on the whole subject but I can give you an idea on what the Christian left and right believe:

Lefties:
Wikipedia said:
The Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice.
The term often specifically refers to Christian beliefs and can be interchangeable with the term Religious left. Subsequently, the term has been used to describe groups and persons from countries outside the US. It is the counter-point to the Christian right, a spectrum of right-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embrace social conservatism.
As with any division inside the left- and right- wings of the political spectrum, such a label is an approximation, including within it groups and persons holding diverse viewpoints. The term left-wing might encompass a number of values which may or may not be held by different Christian movements and individuals.
As the unofficial title of a loose association of believers, it does provide a clear distinction from the more commonly known "Christian Right" or "Religious Right" and its key leaders and political views.
The most common religious viewpoint which might be described as 'left wing' is social justice, or care for the poor and the oppressed (see Minority groups). Supporters of this might encourage universal health care, generous welfare, subsidized education, foreign aid, and government subsidized schemes for improving the conditions of the disadvantaged. Stemming from egalitarian values, adherents of the Christian left consider it part of their religious duty to take actions on behalf of the oppressed. As nearly all major religions contain some kind of requirement to help others, social justice has been cited by various religions as in line with their faith.
The Christian Left holds that social justice, renunciation of power, humility, forgiveness, and private observation of prayer (as opposed to publicly mandated prayer), are mandated by the Gospel (Matthew 6:5-6). The Bible contains accounts of Jesus repeatedly advocating for the poor and outcast over the wealthy, powerful, and religious. The Christian Left maintains that such a stance is relevant and important. Adhering to the standard of "turning the other cheek", which they believe supersedes the Old Testament law of "an eye for an eye", the Christian Left often hearkens towards pacifism in opposition to policies advancing militarism.
While non-religious socialists sometimes find support for socialism in the Gospels (for example Mikhail Gorbachev citing Jesus as "the first socialist"),[1] the Christian Left does not find that socialism alone as an adequate end or means. Christian faith is the core of their belief which in turn demands social justice.
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Righties (I'm just going to post a link for this article cause it's easier):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_right

Also, what's left and right varies from country to country.

A book I'm currently reading says that lefties tend to live in urban areas, while righties tend to live in rural areas.
 
The wikipedia articles (on left and right) only groups like tendencies, or characteristics, for example 'Christian Left' is grouped with 'social justice'.

I want to account for the essential, universal difference or distinction between the two, not simply a list of left and right organisations/groups/opinions.

I want to know what the essential difference between the two is.
 
Flavus Aquila said:
Theories?
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It comes down to distribution of power. Right wingers believe only a select few should have the power and left wingers believe that the power should be distributed equally. If you go too far to either end then you end up with an oligarchy, in which the power is distributed to a small group of people.

Wealth and Military are the tools by which power is distributed within a society so the question ultimately comes down to how these tools are distributed. In America, the military is controlled by the state, so the question of how wealth should be distributed is what causes the divide of the wings.

The economic system embraced by right wingers is generally capitalism, which advocate the idea of the private ownership of wealth. Whereas the economic system of the left wingers is generally socialism, which advocates the state ownership of wealth. The general belief of right wingers is that capitalism will allow the brightest, strongest, hardest working, and ultimately most deserving people to earn the most wealth and thus to have most of the power. The general belief of left wingers is that socialism will distribute wealth equally and according to what people need and thus the power will be distributed equally. Both economic systems ultimately fail. Socialism fails because people need incentive to work, and if there is no disparity in wealth, then nobody will have any reason to work because they know what they need will be handed to them. Capitalism fails because eventually a select few people have most of the wealth and they set up the rules so that they can keep their wealth and nobody else can get up to their level.

Ethics and social attitudes can vary greatly as a result of these different perceptions. Right wingers generally believe in tradition because of inheritance. Inheritance allows one generation to share its wealth with the next generation, and so by enforcing the status quo, keeping the social norms the same, and generally keeping the same customs, those who "deserve" to be wealthy will continue to be wealthy Left wingers generally believe in progress because of poverty. Poverty means that people may have little or nothing despite their efforts, certain groups of people may be oppressed, and these "disadvantaged" people can never rise up. Unfortanely, the wealthy didn't always earn their wealth and the impoverished aren't always disadvantaged. Sometimes the wealthy are corrupt CEOs who have stolen from their stockholders and sometimes the impoverished are people who live off of welfare because they simply have no desire to work. So realistically speaking, neither group is totally correct but right wingers will staunchly argue that they should get to keep what the earn and left wingers will staunchly argue that people should get what they need.

Religion is usually interpreted differently as a result of these political attitudes. Right wingers generally embrace a fire and brimstone interpretation and left wingers generally embrace a love and unity interpretation.
 
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once again... Right and Left wings are not valid political definitions.

What wing am I?

Imperialistic Libertarian with socialist leanings and also a strong belief in economic darwinism.
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You stepped right into that one, Shai...:D

Ahem.

Carry on with your discussion. :)
 
Satya said:
Insane.
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Not really insane, just very vocal.

It might come as a surprize, but I seem to agree with Shai's political opinions more often then with others on the board. But I am very very left-wing.
 
Satya said:
It comes down to distribution of power. Right wingers believe only a select few should have the power and left wingers believe that the power should be distributed equally. If you go too far to either end then you end up with an oligarchy, in which the power is distributed to a small group of people.

Wealth and Military are the tools by which power is distributed within a society so the question ultimately comes down to how these tools are distributed. In America, the military is controlled by the state, so the question of how wealth should be distributed is what causes the divide of the wings.

The economic system embraced by right wingers is generally capitalism, which advocate the idea of the private ownership of wealth. Whereas the economic system of the left wingers is generally socialism, which advocates the state ownership of wealth. The general belief of right wingers is that capitalism will allow the brightest, strongest, hardest working, and ultimately most deserving people to earn the most wealth and thus to have most of the power. The general belief of left wingers is that socialism will distribute wealth equally and according to what people need and thus the power will be distributed equally. Both economic systems ultimately fail. Socialism fails because people need incentive to work, and if there is no disparity in wealth, then nobody will have any reason to work because they know what they need will be handed to them. Capitalism fails because eventually a select few people have most of the wealth and they set up the rules so that they can keep their wealth and nobody else can get up to their level.

Ethics and social attitudes can vary greatly as a result of these different perceptions. Right wingers generally believe in tradition because of inheritance. Inheritance allows one generation to share its wealth with the next generation, and so by enforcing the status quo, keeping the social norms the same, and generally keeping the same customs, those who "deserve" to be wealthy will continue to be wealthy Left wingers generally believe in progress because of poverty. Poverty means that people may have little or nothing despite their efforts, certain groups of people may be oppressed, and these "disadvantaged" people can never rise up. Unfortanely, the wealthy didn't always earn their wealth and the impoverished aren't always disadvantaged. Sometimes the wealthy are corrupt CEOs who have stolen from their stockholders and sometimes the impoverished are people who live off of welfare because they simply have no desire to work. So realistically speaking, neither group is totally correct but right wingers will staunchly argue that they should get to keep what the earn and left wingers will staunchly argue that people should get what they need.

Religion is usually interpreted differently as a result of these political attitudes. Right wingers generally embrace a fire and brimstone interpretation and left wingers generally embrace a love and unity interpretation.
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Satya, I enjoyed reading your views on this. Seriously enjoyed up to the last paragraph. You went to great detail explaining different viewpoints in the political environ. I liked your use of the word "generally" and felt the post well thought out. I may not agree with everything, but feel it mostly in line. I wish you would attempt to explain the religious side, using the politic, as well with as much attention to detail and absence of negativity. I might find that interesting, too.
 
JM - I suspect that the difference between the Left and Right of religion may be something like this:

Left: religion is a purely human construct, and beliefs come 'from the people' and can thus change.

Right: true religion is a purely divine construct, given to people 'from above' and can never change.

Centre: true religion has its origins in divine revelation, but is carried out by people. There are aspects which can change and some aspects which cannot.
 
I think you were basking in it with joy. I, too, enjoyed it.
 
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