Politics How does one define their political Alliance?

[ShanDog]

Good work, you managed to me cringe first thing on a work day.

That's not a cringe mate, that's the feeling of guilt for being unsorted!

 

[The Speaker]

Don't bother trying to define left and right. They don't exist.

There are three ideological groups: conservative, liberal, socialist. All three are equally opposed to each other, and there is no middle ground between them.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Don't bother trying to define left and right. They don't exist.

There are three ideological groups: conservative, liberal, socialist. All three are equally opposed to each other, and there is no middle ground between them.

And where do the anarchists & the Greenies fit among that lot?

 

[DaRick]

And where do the anarchists & the Greenies fit among that lot?

Don't forget alt-right style reactionaries.

I have always subscribed to the two-prong approach when defining one's political alliance. For example, I think of myself as being centre-right on social issues and centre-left on economic issues.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Don't forget alt-right style reactionaries.

I have always subscribed to the two-prong approach when defining one's political alliance. For example, I think of myself as being centre-right on social issues and centre-left on economic issues.

I'm not really a fan of the bi-partisan Hegelian dialectical system....Much prefer a gaggle of parties who share power, so as to limit the possibility for corruption & corporate monopolies taking hold....As they have done so in the U.S & Great Britain.

In the first century of the U.S system, parties would come & go, & even reform to become new parties as reality dictated.....Older parties become stale & lose touch with what is current IMO.....People might argue that we've become far too large & complicated systemically in order to allow anything but a 2-party preferred to work.....I'd argue the complete opposite.....Get money out of politics.....Humanity & serving the people ought always to be the principal concern of all government....Changing governments & ruling parties often, is the best way to stave off corruption from setting in & concretising, as it has done so in the U.S via Rumsfeld & Cheney's COG.....These 2 clowns have been secretly working at it, since the days of Tricky Dicky Nixon, where they cut their teeth & learn't their craft....The CFA & the Tri-lateral now all but dictates policy to the Congress, the Senate & the White House on geo-politics & the purse-strings....The pentagon has basically had carte-blanche to do as it likes since Bush Junior.

The greatest happiness for the greatest number is not achieved through servicing the corporate fat-cats....Nor by selling out our entire fiscal system to the arbitrary fiat of private banksters; whom only serve themselves & their buddies, at the big end of town.

 

[The Speaker]

And where do the anarchists & the Greenies fit among that lot?

Anarchists are liberals taken to the nth degree. Environmentalists tend to be a mix, so it would depend on the reasons they state for their greenery.

Don't forget alt-right style reactionaries.

The so-called alt-right consists of conservatives and liberals.

 

[Bombermania]

Don't bother trying to define left and right. They don't exist.

There are three ideological groups: conservative, liberal, socialist. All three are equally opposed to each other, and there is no middle ground between them.

I think this is correct as in the terms left and right wing are legacies of the French Revolution era and the side of the Estate General its members sat, wheres today its more about whether you take a liberal view or a conservative view, the term socialist doesn't apply that much to Australian politics outside of the left faction of the ALP and even there factions change position depending on circumstances.

 

[medusala]

If none do, which is usually the case, cast a "none of the above" vote.

Don't bother voting at all.

 

[Colin Northcott]

Common sense.

 

[Funkalicous]

"Alt-right" is actually the various groups of people that want their western country to be a white ethno state. It can also be considered the other side of the "Identity Politics" coin, where "white is right". Libertarians oppose both alt-right and neo-progressives because they divide people on race and not quality of character. This is why you hear that a conservative like Ben Shapiro is so aggressively attacked by the alt-right.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Don't expect to agree 100% with any party. Not even party members do that, not even those who become MPs.

One of the worst aspects of the Australian party system is the way parliamentarians are expected to toe the party line 100%. Party rules, in effect, force parliamentarians to lie to their constituents about their beliefs. Anything resembling a minor disagreement on one point is leapt upon by opponents and media alike as a party fracturing and in disarray. Its BS and stifles public debate.

So, if even those selling the policies don't believe all of them, don't expect yourself to agree with everything of any party. All you can do is vote for the one you have most agreement with. At worst, there is always a least-bad and a most-bad option. And there are some individuals it is worth the time to put last.

Anyone who agrees 100% with a party, or with a left/right/conservative/socialist/libertarian/anarchist/capitalist/humanist/centrist/labelist label, is perhaps more tied to the ideology than thinking about issues. People usually align more toward one than others, but most have a bit of all. The labels are rough shorthand for what is still a spectrum of multi-faceted views.

tl;dr.
Don't worry about the labels, or a party allegiance unless you feel a strong one. They don't have to define your politics.

 

[The Speaker]

I think this is correct as in the terms left and right wing are legacies of the French Revolution era and the side of the Estate General its members sat, wheres today its more about whether you take a liberal view or a conservative view, the term socialist doesn't apply that much to Australian politics outside of the left faction of the ALP and even there factions change position depending on circumstances.

Socialism is coming back. Australia might take longer to get to it, if at all. But look at Britain especially, where the main threat to the dominance of Blairite liberalism is grassroots socialism led by Jeremy Corbyn. Conservatism is, weirdly, almost completely out of the picture, subjugated by liberalism with their own party and unable to break through anywhere else.