This video explores the U.S. political spectrum, advocating for a model based on equality and liberty rather than the traditional equality and control dichotomy. It discusses objections to this model, including the exclusion of communism, authoritarianism, and fascism. As well as the role of racism within U.S. politics. The conversation emphasizes the importance of understanding political values in a way that fosters discussion rather than division.
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00:00Our liberty versus equality U.S. political spectrum is more accurate and less divisive.
00:08Still, some prefer the traditional spectrum.
00:12Why?
00:13What are their objections?
00:15How do we respond?
00:18The Political Spectrum Part 3
00:20Questions
00:22Welcome to Into the Desert, exploring the wilderness of ideas.
00:28Don't forget to hit those like and subscribe buttons.
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00:37The link is in the description.
00:40In the Political Spectrum Part 1, we looked at a common U.S. political spectrum spanning the far left, which focuses on equality, and the far right, which focuses on control.
00:52Yet this spectrum did not match the U.S. political landscape, had problems, and was divisive.
01:01In Part 2, we suggested an alternative view, one based on equality and liberty.
01:09If you haven't seen these videos, we highly recommend checking them out first, and then come back.
01:15The links are in the description.
01:16Some have raised objections to the equality-liberty spectrum.
01:22Some object to removing communism, authoritarianism, and fascism.
01:27For example, there are communists, even a few in the U.S.
01:32Since equality is the goal of the left in both spectrums, they fit in their traditional position on the far left of the equality-liberty spectrum as well.
01:40So, why drop them?
01:43There are a few reasons that apply to all three.
01:46As a U.S. spectrum, including them adds very little.
01:50The main result of including them is to lend some justification to their main use as a derogatory attack on political opponents.
02:00In short, including them causes far more harm than the little good it brings.
02:05There is also the problem of the other two terms, authoritarianism and fascism.
02:11The U.S. has a democratic form of government, and authoritarianism does not fit anywhere on a democratic spectrum.
02:20As for equality-liberty spectrum, it does not go on the left with its goal of equality, as it does not care about equality.
02:29It does not fit the right with its goal of liberty.
02:32So, if it is included, where would you put it?
02:37There is a similar problem with fascism.
02:40As a totalitarian form of government, one could place them on the far left near the other totalitarian government communism.
02:47But many will object to this.
02:50Historically, this is not as unusual as it may at first seem.
02:54While its intellectual roots are long and varied, coming from both the left and the right,
03:02fascism as a political movement emerged from the Italian left's fracturing in response to the First World War.
03:10Its founding political leader, Benito Mussolini, was a socialist and a member of the Italian Socialist Party.
03:18After the war, Mussolini came to value nationalism in addition to socialism.
03:25The intellectual philosopher of fascism, Giovanni Gentile, rejected liberal capitalism, international socialism, and thus communism.
03:36He wanted a new understanding of socialism, a national socialism.
03:43For some, this made it an alternative to both capitalism and traditional socialism.
03:51Still, it does not fit on the equality-liberty spectrum.
03:56As a totalitarian government, it certainly does not fit on the right with its emphasis on liberty.
04:03As you move right on the spectrum, from conservative to libertarian, you find a smaller and more decentralized government.
04:12The more to the right, the smaller the government.
04:15So how do you make a leap back to totalitarianism?
04:18Likewise, its national socialism, and thus rejection of capitalism, also does not fit the right.
04:29Another question would be how a group of socialists seeking to fix traditional socialism following World War I,
04:36and rejecting liberty and capitalism, end up with something on the right.
04:41Fascism, at least, in its political origin in Italy, originated as a modified view of socialism,
04:51and thus, if it fits anywhere, it would fit on the left.
04:55But adding it gains you little in the U.S. spectrum and causes more harm than good.
05:01Thus, with no good reason to include them, all three are dropped.
05:06Another similar objection is what to do with racism.
05:10Where does it go?
05:13Sadly, like control, racism is found across the spectrum and, in fact, often exists independent of politics.
05:23Historically, in the United States, racism has been an integral part of the Democratic Party,
05:30whose support for slavery ended in the Civil War.
05:33Following the war, it resisted attempts to establish equal rights for blacks.
05:38And then, following the infamous Compromise of 1877, undermined Reconstruction by pushing Jim Crow laws.
05:47In the early part of the 20th century, the newly revitalized KKK became the de facto arm of the Democratic Party in the South.
05:57Democrats staunchly resisted Republican attempts to push civil rights until the 1960s,
06:04when, under the leadership of LBJ, enough Democrats changed their view to allow civil rights legislation to pass.
06:12This is not to say that racism exists only on the left.
06:18Sadly, it is found on both sides.
06:21But it is more difficult to maintain on the right, given that it focuses on the individual,
06:26as opposed to the left's focus on the group.
06:29Another objection is to liberty being the value on the right, opposite the left's equality.
06:37The objection is that while the right does value economic liberty, the left values personal liberty.
06:44Granted, any one-dimensional spectrum will have issues.
06:49While liberty works well as a counterbalance to equality, it is not perfect.
06:54Still, the left pushes for larger and more centralized government,
06:59which by definition comes at the cost of liberty.
07:04Liberty is more accurate and less demonizing than control.
07:09So one question would be, if not liberty, what?
07:14So a U.S. political spectrum based on equality and liberty meets the goals we set out to achieve.
07:20It is more accurate and less demonizing than the more traditional spectrum of equality and control.
07:29Using it as a basis for political discussion should lead to a better understanding of various views
07:35and lower the current overheated nature of political debate.
07:42So what do you think?
07:44Do you agree that an equality versus liberty spectrum makes more sense?
07:48Do you disagree?
07:49Do you have a better suggestion for the defining value of the right other than liberty?
07:56Tell us why in the comments.
07:58We do read your comments and often post replies.
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08:07Thank you for watching Into the Desert, Exploring the Wilderness of Ideas.
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