Left and Right

I consider myself a left-leaning moderate. Philosophically, I'm a skeptic, so I don't choose my political allegiances based on which position I consider "true" (I don't know if there is such a thing as truth, and, even if there is, I don't know if I would recognize it), rather, since one's politics are, at least in part, an extension of one's moral positions, I base my own politics on what my conscience will allow, and I expect many other people do the same. People far to the left and far to the right differ not so much about matters of fact, but rather have consciences that allow or disallow different and sometimes opposite things.

Ideal Worlds
Here are what I think the ideal communities for those on the most extreme left and right would look like.

The ideal world for a leftist is, I think, perfectly articulated by that John Lennon song. You know the one. Don't make me say it. The one about people not believing in heaven and shit. This song talks about a kind of perfect equality between everyone, "nothing to kill or die for" etcetera. In this kind of world, people get along, they enjoy each other's company, nobody has to put a lot of effort into anything, take orders from anyone or give orders to anyone. There is no competition, so nobody has to worry about losing face or strain themselves trying to get ahead.

There's certainly an appeal to this kind of community. You don't have to deal with people who are arrogant or full of themselves. If you need help, people will be there for you, presumably, and there's nothing to feel jealous about.

The ideal world for people on the right is one in which there is constant activity and effort. There is hierarchy, and, depending on what kind of right winger you are, you can climb the social ladder or you can enjoy your position of high status if you're lucky enough to have it, and you can look upon those above you with awe and appreciation if you're not. It is a world in which there are things of immense value that people devote their lives to achieving or protecting. This kind of community likely has a God to which everyone bows. This God is an object of ultimate value that gives value to everything else, and everything and everyone is judged by their proximity to or from this ideal. All activity is judged by this standard. All things that are not oriented to this standard are worthless and to be shunned and condemned.

This ideal world has its appeal as well. People in this community enjoy an awe that those in the leftest ideal world do not. People have something to look up to and a standard by which value can be measured with certainty.


Both of these ideals also have a pretty grotesque side as well. While the leftist ideal world, is harmonious and comfortable, it is also pretty boring and stifling like a straight jacket. If there is nothing to kill or die for, there's not much to live for if you ask me. The conscience of someone on the far left is severely perturbed by the idea that someone may gain advantage over anyone else, regardless of the effort invested. In fact the very idea that someone would expend effort to place themselves ahead of anyone else seems to be indicative of some kind of pathology to the leftist. Anyone who chooses to do that is seen as selfish and evil. Wanting to better oneself or one's lot in life is only permissible if you can bring everyone else with you. Otherwise it is a despicable vice.

The world of the right winger has an unmistakable glory to it, but is contemptuous of deviants and intolerant of dissent. While in this community, one is not made to feel guilty for wanting to be greater than one is, one is also not made to feel any responsibility or compassion for the lot of others. Everyone is where they are because they either earned it, or happened to be born into a class that entitles them to their fortune or misfortune. No tears are to be shed for the indigent, and nobody in a position of privilege should ever be asked, let alone forced, to ever be inconvenienced in the slightest to provide even the most basic of needs to those who happen to find themselves in a desperate situation. Not for any reason. The conscience of someone on the far right is disgusted by the idea that the great and mighty would ever be called upon to sacrifice any of their wealth for the sake of the lowly.


I obviously fall somewhere in between. Most people fall somewhere between these two extremes, and someone reading this who is far left or far right may accuse me of making a caricature of their political position. Well, for the purposes of illustration, that is exactly what I am doing. I've constructed these extremes not because I think they represent the ideals of most people, but rather because I want to show what each extreme end of the left/right spectrum looks like.

My conscience finds the rejection of all stratification horrendously stifling. There's something contemptible to me about people who are disgusted by the notion that some people may be better than others in at least some respects and deserve more wealth and social status. Some people are better than others and deserve more. This "betterness" is, however, not absolute. No matter how talented or charming you are, you don't get to turn you're back on those who are struggling just to get by while you have more wealth than you know what to do with. Now, I know not every poor person is poor because of factors outside of their control, and yes, there are welfare cheats. Regardless, there are some very hard working people who make all the right decisions in life and still can't get by. To affirm that the wealthy, even the most hard working thereof, are more entitled to their ivory back scratchers than these unfortunate people are to food and medicine is not something my conscience can allow. This, I think, makes me a left-leaning moderate.

VenomfagX

It looks like he's making videos again. This should be entertaining. I wonder if anyone will even bother with him anymore though. I mean, really, he just keeps repeating the same shit over and over again. No matter how convincing an argument you make against one of his points, he'll throw it back at you in another video like it was something new that he just though up. Is thunderf00t going to want to go over the same points again ad nauseum? Is TJ?

Maybe it'll be entertaining, though. Maybe he'll show more of his dorm room hijinks and Kassie Dill will keep talking about how faggy she thinks he is and we'll all have a good laugh. Maybe he'll embarrass himself even more by false DMCAing yet another set of atheist videos. Maybe he'll get on FOX News like Howtheworldworks did and the whole world will get to see what dink he is.

I suspect it'll just be boring videos and boring responses to his obvious nonsense.

Christmas

I can't really say I go to the effort of boycotting Christmas so much as I refuse to spend any effort on it. I didn't buy anybody any presents, though some probably bought me some. I didn't decorate, and I'm spending the day working. I'm taking the opportunity to be productive.

I cringe at all the people who are able to compartmentalize the excitement over presents and separate it from the ridiculous amount of debt they are in and refuse to connect the two. Only a grinch would point out the inevitable nuisance those Playstations and Xboxes are going to bring when they're being hounded by the credit card company.

People are baffled by the fact that I'm able to pay all my bills while only working 25 hours a week and have never been in debt. "How is this possible in a recession?! How do you do it?!" I don't spend all my money on stupid shit, that's how.