The Left: Home of Tolerance & Totalitarian Murderers

(FLP Opinion) - I had an interesting conversation with an intelligent kid heading to college next year. He knows I write this blog and is quite interested in politics. He peppered me with several questions the other day and this is the gist of that discussion (his questions in bold):

• How do you define the primary difference in Left & Right ideology? 
  • Simple. The Left (Liberals) puts power in the hands of the state; the Right (Conservatives) puts power in the hands of the people.

• What side of the political spectrum do most dictators come from? 
  • They all came from the Left.

• All of them? Who would that list include? 
  • Adolph Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Pol Pot, Kim Jong-ll and Nicolae Ceauşescu, to name a few. The names I mentioned are responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000,000 people.

• Don't these dictators all represent generally Socialist forms of government? 
  • Yes, Socialism is a limb on the political tree; Nazism, Communism, Fascism, Marxism and Maoism are simply branches off that socialist limb.

• Why don't any dictators come from the right side of the political spectrum? 
  • By definition, it's impossible for someone from the Right to be a dictator. Remember, the Right puts power in the hands of the people and a dictator cedes that power to the government. You can't dictate if you have given power to the citizenry. Therefore, all dictators are Leftist.

• If all this is true, why does the media generally try to paint those on the Right as Fascists, etc.? 
  • Because the media is comprised overwhelming by those with a hard-Left bent and they want those with a similar ideology to do well. It's really as simple as that.
• Do you think that Democrats are Socialists?
  • You cannot draw any other reasonable conclusion based on their legislative actions. Yes, they are absolutely Socialists. That being said, the rank and file Democrat voter is not a Socialist, just uninformed and/or mislead.
• What is the danger in electing Democrats to office?
  • Socialists always try to game the system so they can retain power permanently. The reason for this is that their policies, once fully visible to the public, are generally very unpopular. The danger is that they would successfully re-order the constitution (likely under some perceived domestic emergency) and make it difficult or impossible to remove them from office. This outcome would be the end of our freedom and it has happened before where socialism has taken hold - often at the point of a gun (Russia, Germany, Italy, Cuba, China, etc.). Freedom has never been lost under a conservative government.

I asked this kid if he had learned any of this in the public school system. Not surprisingly, he said very little.

At least he knows the truth now.

Comments

[Danny]

Very well done Pundit! Keep up the good work.

[Ada]

I like the breakdown analysis that you made! Very simple. I explained the welfare system to my girls with their bag of Halloweeen candy. I told them, "You worked hard all night for this candy. You are supposed to take it to school tomorrow and give it to everyone that refused to go out in the cold themselves." My oldest was appalled, saying that wasn't fair. My little one said, What if they couldn't go out? I told her, That's when we are mandated by God to care for them. Otherwise, you need to work for what you get in life.

[Chuck (FL Pundit)]

Thanks Ada. When you think about where they stand on issues, you almost have to suspend reality to support them - unless you're a true believing Socialist. I think this is a pretty effective way to break it down to political neophytes (which would be most people).

[Ryan]

Dictators are anti-democratic: so your position is that the left wing is anti-democratic while the right wing is pro-democratic?

But isn't it the case there are many issues on which the right seeks to take power away from the people? I don't have the power to purchase certain narcotics, to gamble, to sell my body, etc. because the right wing is opposed to, and has made illegal, those activities. Why? Because it believes that society could not function efficiently if citizens had discretion to pursue these sinful activities.

Likewise, the left also believes that restricting personal power in some areas is necessary to promote an efficient society. But is this really any different from the right's position (vis a vis a republican form of government)? The problem with your post is that you are using extreme examples... of course far leftists, like Castro, are opposed to republicanism, but what evidence is there that the mainstream left in the US (the democratic party) is likewise anti-republicanism?

The left/right distinction has nothing to do with authoritarianism/republicanism. If it does, your post certainly hasn't shown how... In my mind left/right, at least in this country, are two sides of the same republican coin. Despite all the shouting and hollering that comes from both sides, neither has shown me any evidence to the contrary.

[Gun totin Bible thumpin Redneck]

Ryan,

While it's true the post takes the liberty of make some sweeping generalities, at it's core there are some simple truths with which I am in violent agreement. These simple truths are the following:

1. What made this country great and prosperous was limited government, free markets, individual liberties, rule of law, fiscal restraint and private property rights
2. The most prosperous societies generally align with the principles, the most opressed societies generally do not
3. The left does not align with these principles, and in fact these principles are under attack today from the left (1st amendment - "hate speech" laws, censorship of ideas on college campuses/newsrooms/law firms, the fairness doctrine; 2nd amendment - no explanation needed; private property rights - Kehoe, using endangered species act to deprive private property rights, subrogation of GM bondholders, etc. I could go on)

These should be but are not necessarily "Republican" values (i.e. Bush administration - Senior's Pharmacy entitlement program, increased discretionary spending, budget deficits, etc.) rather they are probably better known today as conservative or libertarian values. The fact is government does not create wealth, it only destroys it. The creation of wealth enables a society to have the means to help the poor, advance the human condition with technology and medical research, and provide individuals the freedom to achieve and prosper.

The sad fact about the Democrats in Congress today is that by growing the size of government and increasing the number of people receiving public assistance they are increasing their hold on power and soldifying their base. More government employees to pay more to the government employee's union to pay more to keep the people in office who siphon off more of other people's money to provide people government assistance to more people which requires more government employees. which requires higher taxes on the rich. It's a vicious and deeply entrenched cycle. It can only lead to disaster....lower standard of living, higher unemployment, less opportunity, unsustainable entitlement programs, more public debt, inflation........all of which puts us and the world at risk of economic collapse. It's bad for most people, but not for those in charge.

[Ryan]

Good post, GTBTR. I think you just proved my point.

Your list at number 1 is spot on (I might add religious freedom as well), but you do not back up your assertion in number 3 that the left does not align itself with those principles. Wouldn't it be more accurate to the say that the left has a different view of those principles than does the right? For example, to those on the left, isn't the right's refusal to extend anti-discrimination laws to homosexuals considered a deprivation of individual liberties?

My point is that ALL AMERICANS value these principles, they just have different views of them. Let me address a few of your points:
1. Everyone agrees that not all speech is constitutionally protected (yelling fire in a crowded space, threatening to kill the president, etc.). I am not aware of any "hate speech laws," but it does stand to reason that some forms of hate speech are not entitled to constitutional protection. Similarly, we can agree that not everybody is entitled to the benefits of the 2nd Amendment (such as multiple felons, or sex offenders). But the fact that the left and right may disagree on the interpretation of these principles does not mean that one side is against them altogether.

2. I'm not sure how to respond to your private property rights points... I seem to recollect from my con law days that most states and municipalities use their eminent domain and other powers over private property whenever they deem it in their best interests, regardless of whether they are on the left or right. The fact that these powers are inherent in the government (which was Keho's holding, expanded), is a result of our English common law tradition, not a leftist totalitarian agenda. The individual right to bear arms is similarly grounded in the common law, and not right wing ideology as some leftists believe. It is up to citizens to restrict this power through the ballot box... the Constitution does not do it for us.

Look, I don't plan on trolling here -- this will be my last post, then I'll stop by just to check the comments. But I am dumbfounded by certain elements of the left and right in this country that believe, wholeheartedly, that the other side is filled with anti-democratic extremists. When the author of this blog states that Democrats are "absolutely socialists" it does a great disservice to the tradition of informed political discourse in this country; it demands a response. And it is insulting to the millions of people throughout the world, including many members of my own family, who live, or who have lived, in true socialist states.

The Democratic and Republican parties are two of the most right wing parties in the developed world. Except for maybe the right in Italy, Poland, and a few other Eastern European Countries, I don't think there is a RIGHT WING party in the developed world that is further to the RIGHT then the democratic party. This is testament to the shared value of the principles GTBTR mentioned. To discount this shared history by calling half the politicians in this country absolute socialists is a foolish political and philosophical mistake. Let's not forget that we are still a republic.

[Chuck (FL Pundit)]

Ryan, this post was about what part of the political spectrum dictatorships arise. In that light, I don't think I said anything that was off-base. They ALWAYS do come from the Left.

I also made sure to state that I did not believe that rank and file Democrats were Socialists, but I absolutely believe that the Obama Administration and Congress is full of them. I don't make that statement to name call, I make it as a point of fact based on what they have done legislatively in the past eleven months with Health Care, Cap & Trade and the Stimulus (to name a few).

We are now seeing for the first time in our nations history what happens when the far-left controls the White House and Congress simultaneously (like they frequently do in Europe). Thus far, it has produced big government legislation like never before seen. Bloated health care bills that seem more about grabbing power than fixing the health care system. A colossal Cap & Trade bill that would raise taxes across the spectrum and that no one even read before voting on it (kind of like the Stimulus Bill).

With regard to your assertion that the Left is this country is further to the right than conservative movements in almost any other country - you're right. But that was before they achieved the total power they now have. They are now governing as they want to - completely unfettered - and the result looks like Socialism to me.

And while I don't expect to awaken to storm troopers knocking on my door tomorrow, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility under the leadership of Leftist like Obama, Pelosi and Reid.

Let's face it, history has proven time and again what the far-Left is capable of.

[Wayne]

It's awful hard to believe the Obama crowd are not Socialist. They have the power and they are riding it for all they have. They know that they only have a short time to get their programs in place before the next election, and they are giving out goodies to the Democrats and Republicans to support their agenda.