What is "leftism"?

[Kennigit]

It's what nickyj and ghostwriter like to roleplay sometimes to spice things up.

 

[ace99]

The exclusive usage of one's left hand in mastering your domain.

 

[GhostWriter16]

But the political spectrum covers the whole gamut from anarcho-syndicalism to fascist white supremacism. Surely you fit somewhere on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-left_politics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_wing_politics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-right_politics

Do you mean to say that nothing in any of the above links resonates with you?

The problem with right/left is that it supports a binary political spectrum, and one that makes little sense. If you're going to have a single line spectrum "Big government" vs "Small government" or "Libertarian" vs "Authoritarian" would be better, but that spectrum still misses all kinds of nuance, and puts conservatives and liberals both in the middle. Still, it does make more sense because it is consistant. It puts people who want to control other people's lives opposite from those who don't.

Really, I think we need three, maybe even four, separate spectrums. At minimum, we need an economic scale (This would be our "Left" vs "Right") a social scale (libertarian vs authoritarian) and a foreign policy scale ("Hawk" vs "Dove" or something). I could see a fourth scale specifically for liberty vs security (Specifically stuff relating to the surveilance state and such, as distinct from the social issues) but this could also be tied in with either social policy or foreign policy (It makes more sense to put it with social, but it is a direct consequence of foreign policy, so I don't know what to say about it.)

Actually, no, that sounds strikingly like libertarianism. Or as we called it before Rand, anarcho-capitalism.



According to that I am a "communitarian".

Probably far in the upper left corner

 

[Lord of Elves]

The problem with right/left is that it supports a binary political spectrum, and one that makes little sense. If you're going to have a single line spectrum "Big government" vs "Small government" or "Libertarian" vs "Authoritarian" would be better, but that spectrum still misses all kinds of nuance, and puts conservatives and liberals both in the middle. Still, it does make more sense because it is consistant. It puts people who want to control other people's lives opposite from those who don't.

Believe it or not big and powerful government can and has ensured freedom. The phenomenon of viewing government as entirely and wholly a threat to the freedom of the individual is a distinctly American one, as well as one that has only recently come back out of the woodwork to haunt us. Once it becomes clear that insistence on free market politics and deregulation will only make matters worse for the nation and worsen the quality of life for the individual we'll hopefully move away from this greed-driven rubbish. Maybe.

Probably far in the upper left corner

What's the saying? "Reality has a liberal bias", or something. Oh, here's another one:

I don't agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Believe it or not big and powerful government can and has ensured freedom. The phenomenon of viewing government as entirely and wholly a threat to the freedom of the individual is a distinctly American one, as well as one that has only recently come back out of the woodwork to haunt us. Once it becomes clear that insistence on free market politics and deregulation will only make matters worse for the nation and worsen the quality of life for the individual we'll hopefully move away from this greed-driven rubbish. Maybe.

What's that law? No matter how much government control, any problem will be blamed on the small amount of freedom left, or something.

What's the saying? "Reality has a liberal bias", or something. Oh, here's another one:

Reality has a libertarian bias

I don't agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it

This one I will 100% agree with you on. I'm actually impressed, I thought you'd be the type to criminalize hate speech or something.

 

[WindFish]

Reality has a libertarian bias

Yeah you're going to have to prove that

 

[Lord of Elves]

What's that law? No matter how much government control, any problem will be blamed on the small amount of freedom left, or something.

Only the laws which come from your favoritest governmental document ever, the Constitution, which guarantee your rights against government abuse and establish a legal framework and precedent in which we can curb excess governmental power when and where it arises. A democratic government -- and I maintain we do in fact have one -- uses the powers granted to it by the people (governmental wherewithal and authority, legal authority to prosecute lawbreakers, force of arms, etc) to ensure their freedoms against foreign and internal subversive elements... maintaining the effective status quo of government-enshrined and protected freedoms which is in essence conservative.

This one I will 100% agree with you on. I'm actually impressed, I thought you'd be the type to criminalize hate speech or something.

There's no point in criminalizing something which significantly decreases your ability to get a date, or in other words, criminalizing hate speech has no purpose when so few people are interested in the worldview it promotes. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to call in the troops when someone in any position of authority or power over other people starts pushing them to commit violent acts or what have you.

 

[Cutlass]

Leftism is that thing which does not exist in the US.

 

[Cutlass]

Leftism is the tendency to ignore all practical considerations in the pursuit of obtaining personal comfort and power by endorsing coercion.

Example: President sees trend to fiscal catastrohe but igores it in order to pursue an advantage towards reelection and personal prestige by villianizing productive individuals and endorsing the confiscation of their property despite the fact that said confiscation does nothing to avert said catastrophe.

Once again, you use the definition of a conservative to accuse others of being what conservatives are.

 

[Lord of Elves]

Once again, you use the definition of a conservative to accuse others of being what conservatives are.

To be fair the right in this country has embraced some kind of reactionary anarcho-capitalism, not traditional conservatism, which tends to imply the maintenance of traditional values, methods and institutions. So-called conservatives in the United States seem disposed to do away with plenty of traditional values, methods and institutions in their desperate quest to return to some kind of idealized past, among those constrictive and evil institutions being the American government.

 

[Antilogic]

Whatever the right wants it to be.

 

[GhostWriter16]

To be fair the right in this country has embraced some kind of reactionary anarcho-capitalism, not traditional conservatism, which tends to imply the maintenance of traditional values, methods and institutions. So-called conservatives in the United States seem disposed to do away with plenty of traditional values, methods and institutions in their desperate quest to return to some kind of idealized past, among those constrictive and evil institutions being the American government.

That depends on which segment of the Republican Party.

Even still, you're confusing minarchist or near-minarchist systems with outright anarcho-capitalism, that's inaccurate.

 

[Traitorfish]

In its most general sense, I would say that "leftism" means taking a critical attitude towards authority.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

The political affiliation which defends the rights of south-paws.

 

[Zack]

Beyonce's philosophy.

 

[GhostWriter16]

In its most general sense, I would say that "leftism" means taking a critical attitude towards authority.

Just wondering, but does this mean Murray Rothbard was a leftist?

 

[civver_764]

edit: ^ He didn't challenge authority so much as want it reorganized.

Believe it or not big and powerful government can and has ensured freedom. The phenomenon of viewing government as entirely and wholly a threat to the freedom of the individual is a distinctly American one, as well as one that has only recently come back out of the woodwork to haunt us. Once it becomes clear that insistence on free market politics and deregulation will only make matters worse for the nation and worsen the quality of life for the individual we'll hopefully move away from this greed-driven rubbish. Maybe.

Anarchism is from Europe.

 

[Global Skeptic]

You could also read on Lawrence Kohlberg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development and understand politics as a subset of psychology.

 

[Borachio]

One could try.

What are these universal ethical principles?

In Stage six (universal ethical principles driven), moral reasoning is based on abstract reasoning using universal ethical principles. Laws are valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice, and a commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust laws. Legal rights are unnecessary, as social contracts are not essential for deontic moral action. Decisions are not reached hypothetically in a conditional way but rather categorically in an absolute way, as in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant.[18] This involves an individual imagining what they would do in another’s shoes, if they believed what that other person imagines to be true.[19] The resulting consensus is the action taken. In this way action is never a means but always an end in itself; the individual acts because it is right, and not because it is instrumental, expected, legal, or previously agreed upon. Although Kohlberg insisted that stage six exists, he found it difficult to identify individuals who consistently operated at that level.

Kohlberg suggested that there may be a seventh stage—Transcendental Morality, or Morality of Cosmic Orientation—which linked religion with moral reasoning.[20] Kohlberg's difficulties in obtaining empirical evidence for even a sixth stage,[15] however, led him to emphasize the speculative nature of his seventh stage

 

[Tahuti]

In its most general sense, I would say that "leftism" means taking a critical attitude towards authority.

Paleoconservatives are quite critical of authority but are considered Righty, so that wouldn't cut it I think.