Main Points on the Political Continuum

On another thread a poster said that Americans want a President who is slightly right of center. This got me wondering-

What is center? What is slightly left or right of center and what is left and what is right?

This might seem simple if u are a staunch democrat or republican. But what if you don't identify with either and you form your opinion on an issue by issue basis?

Looking forward to readin your answers.

G

I'm kind of a right-loathing libertarian.

I'm kind of a right-loathing libertarian.

Well, that kills this thread😀

Ha. Predictable but funny. Before we establish where we are on the continuum let's try to define the points on the continuum. Just an idea. If yer not into it we can just argue about some stuff 😉

I would say that the right is for less government and the left is for more government, thus, an anarchist would be far right and communists, facsists dictators would be far left. The current party labels are meaningless because the parties are fund raising brands rather than ideological associations.

Americans tend to be slightly right of center cecause we want the government to stay out of our life but tend to want our neighbors regulated.

center seeks consensus, compromise

I would say that the right is for less government and the left is for more government, thus, an anarchist would be far right and communists, facsists dictators would be far left. The current party laels are meaningless because the parties are fund raising brands rather than ideological associations.

Americans tend to be slightly right of center cecause we want the government to stay out of our life but tend to want our neighbors regulated.

tightening up that definition, americans are slightly right of center because we want socialism to benefit us personally, but are not willing to pay the freight. we hypocritically declare independence from government with one eye on the mailbox for that check. the icing on the cake is protesting the size of federal spending as well over half goes out to entitlements. we have become a nation of self serving tribes dominated by corporate america.

Ha. Predictable but funny. Before we establish where we are on the continuum let's try to define the points on the continuum. Just an idea. If yer not into it we can just argue about some stuff 😉

OK, I'll bite on your trolling. How about these for starting points and you tell me where they fall.
1. Limited government, particularly at the federal level.
2. State's rights adhered to.
3. Spending what we have instead of what we wish we had.
4. More support of entrepreneurs and less of unions.
5. A federal tax system that is functional instead of dysfunctional.
These are five as starting points and what you have proposed is interesting so I'll stop here and let others join in on the fun. BTW, I agree with the poster on the other thread.

It's not a line, it's a two dimensional plane. It's authoritarian vs. non authoritarian on one axis and welfare statism vs. capitalism on the other. The Republican party base are authoritarian capitalists. The Democrat party base is still somewhat authoritarian but much less so than the Republicans. They are less capitalistic than the Republicans as well, although I think the Republicans tend to talk the talk without walking the walk in this regard. Reagan might have been the last of the Republican capitalists, but he was just a damn tool in so many other ways.

Andy, my trolling?

Andy, my trolling?

pharmacy

Andy, my trolling?

Andy may have missed a chance to slam me big time. I got the words "walk" and "talk" reversed in my last post. I just edited. That was close.

Seriously Andy. Did u just call me a troll? If u did I'm done with you. You will be the first person in my 3 years on this board that gets the ignore button from me. I put a lot into my posts and go out of my way to be reasonable. I have extended many an olive branch to you in many a thread. I'm no f-ing troll.

Andy may have missed a chance to slam me big time. I got the words "walk" and "talk" reversed in my last post. I just edited. That was close.

I noticed but let it slide as I thought I knew what you meant. As you just proved, I was right.

Seriously Andy. Did u just call me a troll? If u did I'm done with you. You will be the first person in my 3 years on this board that gets the ignore button from me. I put a lot into my posts and go out of my way to be reasonable. I have extended many an olive branch to you in many a thread. I'm no f-ing troll.

It was in jest. If you wish to "ignore" me, be my guest. For your information, I think the "ignore" button is ridiculous. I definitely recognize you as an intelligent, serious and thoughtful poster. Sorry if you were offended.

Okay, well thanks for the kind words.
Fauxpoligy accepted...

😉

It's not a line, it's a two dimensional plane. It's authoritarian vs. non authoritarian on one axis and welfare statism vs. capitalism on the other. The Republican party base are authoritarian capitalists. The Democrat party base is still somewhat authoritarian but much less so than the Republicans. They are less capitalistic than the Republicans as well, although I think the Republicans tend to talk the talk without walking the walk in this regard. Reagan might have been the last of the Republican capitalists, but he was just a damn tool in so many other ways.

Authoritarianism runs deep in both parties, they just want to control different aspects of people's lives. (I'm sure you'll agree, true conservatives and libertarians don't exhibit this behavior.) Republicans try to enforce moralistic behavior based on religion, democrats attempt to enforce a moral sense of fairness within the population. Both parties trample individual rights in the process. Unlike you however, I place the republican party on a higher pedistal. The differences in our views in this respect would make for an interesting discussion.

On another thread a poster said that Americans want a President who is slightly right of center. This got me wondering-

What is center? What is slightly left or right of center and what is left and what is right?

This might seem simple if u are a staunch democrat or republican. But what if you don't identify with either and you form your opinion on an issue by issue basis?

Looking forward to readin your answers.

G

The far left in this county is comprised mostly of social democrats -

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy"]Social democracy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]


The "far right" would be true conservatives, those folks you needn't worry about. It's the religious right and the neo-conservatives (which I think have completely lost sway) that you need to worry about. The first group has no respect for individual rights, and the second likes to invade sovereign nations for fun.

We have fringe groups farther out of course (on all sides), but those folks are totally side lined in main stream politrics.

OK, I'll bite on your trolling. How about these for starting points and you tell me where they fall.
1. Limited government, particularly at the federal level.
2. State's rights adhered to.
3. Spending what we have instead of what we wish we had.
4. More support of entrepreneurs and less of unions.
5. A federal tax system that is functional instead of dysfunctional.
These are five as starting points and what you have proposed is interesting so I'll stop here and let others join in on the fun. BTW, I agree with the poster on the other thread.

So are these the polar opposites?

On the left end of the continuum is a large federal gov't that trumps state's rights, that spends a lot of money, that is pro-union that collects a lot of tax from citizens.

On the right end is a smaller gov't that doesn't mettle with states, that has a balanced budget, that fosters entrepreneurship and doesn't collect a lot in taxes.

If so, I lean right.

🙂

It's not a line, it's a two dimensional plane. It's authoritarian vs. non authoritarian on one axis and welfare statism vs. capitalism on the other. The Republican party base are authoritarian capitalists. The Democrat party base is still somewhat authoritarian but much less so than the Republicans. They are less capitalistic than the Republicans as well, although I think the Republicans tend to talk the talk without walking the walk in this regard. Reagan might have been the last of the Republican capitalists, but he was just a damn tool in so many other ways.

Which quadrant do you live in? :lol: