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Mandela

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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    On the Left vs Right the problem is defining it.

    I've seen the Right Wing defined as - liberalism and libertarianism (small and less powerful state), fascism (glorifying of a powerful and all encompassing state) and conservatism (which may be small state or large state). I've also seen the BBC use it to refer to the hardline communists who launched the coup against Gorbachev and as Right-Wing Authoritarianism (in psychological terms) which both covers the regimes and supporters of such diverse characters as Oliver Cromwell, Adolf Hitler, Mao and Stalin. It's used by some as short hand for 'bad things'

    It's also originally comes from the French revolution, where the Right Wingers such on the right of the National Assembly and looked across the channel to Great Britain for a constitutional monarchy with a free Parliament, trial by jury and free trade whilst the Left were the Robespierrians who supported the Reign of Terror, a period of Government bloodletting of any who disagreed with them that wasn't to be matched in Europe until Lenin and Stalin.

    There also seems to be a trend to use liberal and leftwing interchangeably, which seems to be taking the original use of liberal as some one who wants to keep the power of the state in check, freedom of property rights and free trade and have equality under it* and replace it with new definition of the state having more control, removal of property rights and restriction of free trade and equality of outcome*

    *Equality under the law isn't the same as the Marxist definition of equality of each according to his needs, equality under the law is things like everyone having the same rights to free speech (rather than just, say Barons and Clerics) and to be tried by a jury of unbiased individuals (eg not the King's men)
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