THOUGHT OF THE MOMENT:

Freedom,  Prosperity and Peace...

FOREVER.

11/11/05 A Critique of our Best of the Left & Right slogan......

Hello Libertarian Thinkers,

You are about to make a huge error in the wording on you proposed T-shirt. I refer to  BEST OF THE   LEFT & RIGHT .  There is never anything "Left" about libertarianism. Your confusion is very understandable.

Recent History

The reason for the confusion and contradiction is rooted in their usage in recent history here in the United States . From the 1930s to the late 1970s the terms left wing and liberal was almost synonymous. These terms were used almost interchangeably to described people who were generally calling for more government . Conversely, during the same time, right wing and conservative was almost synonymous . These terms were used almost interchangeably to described people who were generally in opposition to the expansion of government, and favored less government .

Liberals had applauded the domestic expansion of the social programs during the Franklin Roosevelt era, and they tolerated the militarist expansion of Truman and Eisenhower. However, d uring the mid 1960s to late 1970s, a change was gradually taking place. Even liberals were beginning to be concerned with the exponential growth of governmental power. Liberals were feeling the pinch of expanded government. At this point, the word Liberal and the word left-wing ceased to be synonymous. Liberals now, did not always call for more government. On issues like marijuana use, prostitution, censorship and especially the military draft, liberals were calling for  less government .  On the other hand, the conservative and right wing movement was evolving as well. Caused by the exploding fundamental Christian revival of the 1970s. With this growth in numbers and power, conservatives learned that through government, they could advance their agenda. At this point Conservative and right wing ceased to be synonymous . Now they were not always anti-big government. They now favored things like troops on the border to stop immigration, laws that made abortion illegal and the Presidential use of the "Federal Registry" to stop partial-birth abortions and stem cell research. All of which call for more government .

The left/right political spectrum was not altered by these changes. Then as now , the left/right spectrum  measured the degree to which government makes decisions for the individual citizens, or the degree to which the individual citizens are free to make their own decisions. It looked like this:

                                      100% government  -------------------------------------------------------  0% government 

         Left      USSR                               England                                        USA                 Anarchy    . Right

The Soviet Union under Communism, (a totalitarian system) was 100% government, as the State made 100% of the decisions for its citizens.  The Soviet Union was therefore, on the extreme left end of the spectrum. Anarchy, which literally means "no rule", would be on the opposite right end of that spectrum. England , with a Monarchy and a Parliament, and a socialist economic system, made a high percentage of the decisions for its citizens, it was still less than the 100% of the decisions as in the Soviet Union . Great Britain was then, to the right of the Soviet Union , but far from the right end of the spectrum. This would place the constitutionally limited government of the United States clearly to the right of England and toward the right end of the spectrum but still to the left of anarchy.

In today's world sometimes Liberals are Right-Wing (which is good)

Liberals are right wing when they call for the decriminalization of victimless crimes, i.e., drug use, and prostitution. This is a call for " less government ". Liberals are right wing when they oppose government interference with people concerning sex between consenting adults and censorship of pornography these are a call for " less government ". Liberals are right wing when they oppose a military draft. Denying the government power over individuals, is a call for "less government ". Do you see a pattern? A call for less government is a right wing action.  A move to the right is always a call for less government. 

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