Political Spectrum Part 1: The Nonsensical Spectrum

Into The Desert Ideas

Left or Right – it seems like a never-ending argument that goes nowhere. But what are we even arguing about? Why do people passionately argue for their side when they don’t understand what each side represents? Does the common spectrum even make sense?   If you like our content and support our goal of serious discussion without division and name-calling, please join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/IntoTheDesert  Purchase your copy of Preserving Democracy by Elgin L. Hushbeck Jr. today:  https://amzn.to/3C3oTGO   Audible Version: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0D3NJV2WC/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-397936&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_397936_rh_us   Purchase your copy of Seeking Truth by Elgin L. Hushbeck Jr. today: https://amzn.to/3UCWnSS   Audible Version: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0B399JRWY/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-310976&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_310976_rh_us    Purchase your copy of The United States Constitution A History by Elgin L. Hushbeck Jr. today:  https://amzn.to/3AhZ8lE     Audible Version: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0B7CK88YS/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-316815&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_316815_rh_us  Miskito picture: Natox: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported   Narration: Larissa Munz  Image by pngtree.com

Transcript

00:00Left or right? It seems like a never-ending argument that goes nowhere.

00:07But what are we even arguing about?

00:11Why do people passionately argue for their side when they don't understand what each side represents?

00:19Does the common spectrum even make sense?

00:22The Political Spectrum Part 1 The Nonsensical Spectrum

00:30Welcome to Into the Desert, exploring the wilderness of ideas.

00:35Don't forget to hit those like and subscribe buttons, and if you want to support our channel

00:40and our mission of encouraging discussion, not division, please join us on Patreon.

00:45The link is in the description.

00:46Doing some research recently, I saw this depiction of the U.S. political spectrum on several sites.

00:55Since politics is an artificial construct, in that respect it is fine, and it is a very common view.

01:04This spectrum spans between the far left, focusing on equality, and the far right, focusing on control.

01:12This spectrum has the dangers of communism on the left, and fascism on the right.

01:20Again, this is pretty standard, and many accept it as a given.

01:25Yet, does this make sense?

01:29The simple answer is no.

01:32One problem is the entire equality versus control framework.

01:36While communism does focus on equality, at least in rhetoric, how is that any less controlling than fascism?

01:45Both systems are totalitarian forms of government.

01:49Totalitarian governments get their name from their total control over everything.

01:56Another problem is the use of authoritarianism, as the word authoritarian has different meanings,

02:03which results in confusion.

02:06One use of authoritarianism is in contrast to democracy.

02:12In this sense, both fascism and communism are authoritarian governments.

02:19Yet, another use of authoritarianism is in contrast to totalitarianism.

02:26The significant difference between authoritarian and totalitarian governments

02:31is over the degree of control.

02:34Unlike totalitarian dictators, authoritarian dictators are only concerned with their well-being and

02:43control of the government.

02:45These dictatorships run on the principle that, if you don't bother them, they will ignore you.

02:52This may seem like authoritarian dictators are better, yet not always.

02:58Since totalitarian governments involve themselves in everything, they get involved in food, housing, health care, and education.

03:08Things that authoritarian dictators often ignore.

03:11One example of this difference can be seen in Nicaragua, when the Sandinistas took control in 1979.

03:20Prior to that, the Somoza's family had run the country as an authoritarian dictatorship since 1927.

03:29Thus, when the Sandinistas took over, Nicaragua went from an authoritarian dictatorship to a totalitarian one.

03:40The difference was most visible to the Mosquito, a native ethnic group that lived along the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua.

03:49Somoza's had pretty much ignored them, and they generally ignored Somoza.

03:55When the Sandinistas took over, they began to dictate how they should live, which did not go well.

04:02As a result, the Mosquito became an active part of the opposition.

04:09Returning to the spectrum, it correctly places authoritarianism to the left of fascism,

04:15because to control some is less than controlling everything.

04:20Yet, it incorrectly places it to the right of communism, which, like fascism, seeks to control everything.

04:29A similar problem occurs between socialism and conservatism, as the latter is strongly capitalistic.

04:38Capitalism is based on the free market.

04:41Yet, socialism is based on planning and therefore requires more control.

04:47So, how is conservatism more controlling than socialism?

04:52There is a third problem with more recent expressions of left-wing politics,

04:56which argue for speech codes and political correctness, things resisted by the right.

05:03So, why, on this spectrum, are those arguing for more control,

05:08placed further away from the control of society, than the groups resisting those controls?

05:15Another more basic problem is that equality can only be maintained by government control,

05:21and is exactly what we see.

05:24Those on the left call for a larger, more centralized government,

05:29while those on the right argue for a smaller, more decentralized government.

05:36Perhaps the biggest problem with this political spectrum

05:39is that it claims to be a U.S. political spectrum.

05:43Yet, of the seven classifications, only two actually exist in contemporary U.S. politics

05:50in any significant number, liberal and conservative.

05:56Center is not too bad if this is a stand-in for moderate-independent,

06:02those who do not fit cleanly into left or right.

06:05There are a very small number of socialists,

06:09but they generally ally themselves with the Democrats, such as Sanders and Mondami.

06:15As for communism, authoritarianism, and fascism,

06:20they exist only in hyperbolic rhetoric of various political attacks.

06:25While a diligent search may turn up a handful,

06:28as in a country of 340 million,

06:31you can find a few supporters of virtually any point of view.

06:35They play no role in contemporary politics

06:38beyond the hyperbolic rhetoric used to attack opponents.

06:43For U.S. politics in the 21st century,

06:46these terms can be categorized with monarchists,

06:49terms of historical value,

06:51not something anyone actually argues for today.

06:55They may be relevant elsewhere in the world,

06:58but not in U.S. politics.

07:01This brings us to perhaps the worst problem.

07:05This spectrum is divisive.

07:07It encourages people to see their political opponents as the extreme opposite,

07:15and thus label them communist and fascist.

07:18While they only exist in hyperbolic rhetoric and not reality,

07:23that rhetoric is far too prevalent.

07:25Effective and successful democracy relies on open,

07:30honest, and productive discussion of opposing points of view

07:35with the goal of building consensus and not defeating opponents.

07:40That can't happen when you call your opponent a communist or a Nazi.

07:45Discussions that focus on defeating the opponent

07:48tear at the fabric of democracy.

07:50As a result, they make effective democracy harder.

07:56If this spectrum doesn't work, what would be better?

08:00We will explore that in part two.

08:03So what do you think?

08:05Do you disagree?

08:07Do you think the equality versus control spectrum makes sense?

08:11Do you think communism, authoritarianism, and fascism

08:15are alive and well in modern American politics?

08:19What do you think is more important?

08:21Building consensus?

08:22Or defeating opponents?

08:25Tell us why in the comments.

08:26We'd love to hear from you,

08:28and we do read the comments and often post replies.

08:31If you made it this far in the video,

08:33consider watching one of our other videos

08:35and supporting our channel on Patreon.

08:37Thank you for watching Into the Desert,

08:40exploring the wilderness of ideas.

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