"The Left"

[Gough]

This a term thrown about like confetti in Australia, and I've come to the conclusion that many who hurl it about have no clue what they mean by it. I think there is a very strong case for an argument of minds/ideology over future economic direction, but to many, "the left", often accompanied by an synonym of crazy seems to be a catch all term coined by conservatives in the media, and enthusiastically adopted by their acolytes to mean anybody opposing this government, and it's policies.
So what does left wing mean to you? Is it Maoism, socialism, communism, Marxism, it's never exactly been a united movement, which is why I find this sweeping generalisation odd.

 

[The Passenger]

I love it when people say "bleeding heart lefty" like caring for others is a bad thing...

Every now and then I torture myself by reading something by Miranda divine. What a horrible human being. She loves to throw out lines like "leftists will have you believe"... If the daily terrorgraph didn't give her access to such a huge readership base you'd pity her.

 

[Crawb]

Depends where you are really. Sure in the comments section of Andrew Bolt's blog anything beyond the centre-right would be labelled as the "radical left".

But in an international context, a party like The Australian Greens are hardly even slightly radical with social democratic type parties being quite prominent through parts of Europe.

The politics that resonates with Communism/Marxism, etc is the extreme/far left (eg: The Socialist Alternative). Which is quite simply in another world to the Greens. Sure there is some overlap with the likes of Lee Rhiannon. But the same can be said about the modern "Liberal" Party and the extreme/far right.

That fact that there are much much more parties on the extreme/far right in Australia probably skews an average person's understanding of the political spectrum.

 

[Sydney Bloods]

Eh the most right wing government we've had in living memory, gives AOTY to Adam Goodes and it gets called political correctness gone mad, installed by leftists.

Rational explanations are hard to come by with on those that complain about the left.

Hell most think barrack Obama a man far more right wing then any liberal government is a "lefty" there examination of politics goes no further then an Andrew bolt article.

 

[Cooldude]

This a term thrown about like confetti in Australia, and I've come to the conclusion that many who hurl it about have no clue what they mean by it. I think there is a very strong case for an argument of minds/ideology over future economic direction, but to many, "the left", often accompanied by an synonym of crazy seems to be a catch all term coined by conservatives in the media, and enthusiastically adopted by their acolytes to mean anybody opposing this government, and it's policies.
So what does left wing mean to you? Is it Maoism, socialism, communism, Marxism, it's never exactly been a united movement, which is why I find this sweeping generalisation odd.

It's just a term used by the far right to describe (and demean) anyone to the left of them (slightly left or way more left), which is about 95% of the population

You can be a moderate right person (do they exist anymore) and in a far right's eye you are a communist

 

[Gough]

Explain exactly what makes him a lefty?

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Its a bit like the US "right" using the word "liberal" with such disdain. We can't use that word here because Liberal with a capital "l" is part of the "right" and means "conservative".
Only Australian politics could be so inverted that Liberal means Conservative (at least in social policy terms).

But it does serve to show that Left and Right are false dichotomies in a lot of ways. I'd rather look at the issues in my uneducated way than the labels. Not that I'm immune from using "right" as shorthand for a lot what I consider the loopier side of (especially socially) conservative thought.

 

[telsor]

Eh the most right wing government we've had in living memory, gives AOTY to Adam Goodes and it gets called political correctness gone mad, installed by leftists.

Rational explanations are hard to come by with on those that complain about the left.

Hell most think barrack Obama a man far more right wing then any liberal government is a "lefty" there examination of politics goes no further then an Andrew bolt article.

Your first and last points are telling...."the most right wing government we've had in living memory" and "Obama, a man far more right wing than any liberal government".

Not so sure about the first point, but completely agree with the second....but many here act as if Abbott is a crazy far-right winger.

I think most people like to think they're somewhere around the center (or at least where they feel the center SHOULD be), so right and left are from ones own perspective....I suspect the most realistic way of looking at it is look at a range of policies the major parties take to the electorate (when they're generally trying to appeal to the center) and if you think a significant majority are right or left wing, you're probably the opposite.

 

[Seeds]

This a term thrown about like confetti in Australia, and I've come to the conclusion that many who hurl it about have no clue what they mean by it. I think there is a very strong case for an argument of minds/ideology over future economic direction, but to many, "the left", often accompanied by an synonym of crazy seems to be a catch all term coined by conservatives in the media, and enthusiastically adopted by their acolytes to mean anybody opposing this government, and it's policies.
So what does left wing mean to you? Is it Maoism, socialism, communism, Marxism, it's never exactly been a united movement, which is why I find this sweeping generalisation odd.

and you can say the exact thing about the right. exactly the same. the left and right have no consistent ideology. the left are simply cheerleaders for the poorer half in their community and the right the richer half. anyone who claims to be left or right is either a moron or selfish (and that applies to both sides).

 

[Gough]

and you can say the exact thing about the right. exactly the same. the left and right have no consistent ideology. the left are simply cheerleaders for the poorer half in their community and the right the richer half. anyone who claims to be left or right is either a moron or selfish (and that applies to both sides).

Nobody speaks of "the right" as a homogeneous grouping as they do of "the left".

 

[Seeds]

Nobody speaks of "the right" as a homogeneous grouping as they do of "the left".

yes they do. all the time. have you heard of the term conservatives?

 

[Contra Mundum]

This a term thrown about like confetti in Australia, and I've come to the conclusion that many who hurl it about have no clue what they mean by it. I think there is a very strong case for an argument of minds/ideology over future economic direction, but to many, "the left", often accompanied by an synonym of crazy seems to be a catch all term coined by conservatives in the media, and enthusiastically adopted by their acolytes to mean anybody opposing this government, and it's policies.
So what does left wing mean to you? Is it Maoism, socialism, communism, Marxism, it's never exactly been a united movement, which is why I find this sweeping generalisation odd.

The way it is used by Bolt and Devine its like it the Borg or something - it can accomodate anything from those who believe in progressive taxation and the Welfare State to full on militant Maoists. For Bolt it's an "other" category and includes everybody who does not congratulate him on his incisive columns and TV shows

 

[kickazz]

Left = not conservative.

I too believe that the notion of Left vs Right is losing relevance.

 

[Gough]

yes they do. all the time. have you heard of the term conservatives?

I wouldn't even describe our current government as being collectively conservative.

 

[Kram]

Bloody mollydookas.

 

[Richard Pryor]

It's just plain stupid how many people point out two contradictory viewpoints of "the left" as proof of something. Like it's a unified organisation that establishes it's mission statement via comments by random people on the internet.

 

[Power Raid]

I find it strange that we all know what left and right is as a high level concept but some posts above seem to try and over complicate things. With any high level term you have to consider it is not specific and may mean things in different context.

As a personal consideration I would consider myself quite "left" (of centre) in thinking when it comes to social issues like be pro-gay marriage, pro the dole, pro minimum standards in health and education. I am how "right" (of centre) in economics as I believe we have rights and responsibilities (no free lunch for those that should be contributing).

So for me left or right is offensive, its just a preference. but with a little twist of language in the right context and it can easily be turned in a derogatory remark.

 

[Power Raid]

This a term thrown about like confetti in Australia, and I've come to the conclusion that many who hurl it about have no clue what they mean by it. I think there is a very strong case for an argument of minds/ideology over future economic direction, but to many, "the left", often accompanied by an synonym of crazy seems to be a catch all term coined by conservatives in the media, and enthusiastically adopted by their acolytes to mean anybody opposing this government, and it's policies.
So what does left wing mean to you? Is it Maoism, socialism, communism, Marxism, it's never exactly been a united movement, which is why I find this sweeping generalisation odd.

yes they do. all the time. have you heard of the term conservatives?

brilliant

 

[Seeds]

I wouldn't even describe our current government as being collectively conservative.

In the same way you wouldn't collectively call the Labour Party left. I don't see the difference. You yourself in your own post collectively call a group of people who don't affiliate as left as conservatives. Do you not see that?

 

[Pie eyed]

I love it when people say "bleeding heart lefty" like caring for others is a bad thing...

Every now and then I torture myself by reading something by Miranda divine. What a horrible human being. She loves to throw out lines like "leftists will have you believe"... If the daily terrorgraph didn't give her access to such a huge readership base you'd pity her.

Bleeding heart lefties are the only reason folk like Pyne and Bolt survive to adulthood.

 

[Major Colvin]

I love it when people say "bleeding heart lefty" like caring for others is a bad thing...

Every now and then I torture myself by reading something by Miranda divine. What a horrible human being. She loves to throw out lines like "leftists will have you believe"... If the daily terrorgraph didn't give her access to such a huge readership base you'd pity her.

Good point. I too try and read the Miranda Devine's and the Andrew Bolt's - difficult as it may be - because its important to familiarise yourself with differing arguments and perspective. Unfortunately the Devine's and Bolt's of the world do not reciprocate. I know these people, like everyone serve the agenda of their employers but I find it baffling that these people are not even curious to consider perspectives not perfectly aligned with their own.

The "left/right" name-calling in polemic is a way of condensing and simplifying an argument, while evoking resonance with whichever target audience the article is tailored. It is, of course, lazy arguing because issues or policies are not analysed on merit - rather, tucked away neatly under partisanship and therefore summoning on and further consolidating the publics political prejudices.

Bill Maher described the current US political landscape as the Left having moved toward the right, and the right moving towards an insane asylum. I feel a similar dynamic is developing (if not already rooted) in Australian politics.

The "bleeding heart lefty" name calling is a good example of just how little empathy those people must have. Empathy is considered a weakness, it is for people who are not "business-minded" - poor people are considered inherently "bad" - the acquisition of money is the acquisition of morals, apparently.

You only need to hear Abbott's comments on asylum seekers, the incredible comments directed towards Gillian Triggs after her release of the HRC people in detention report. At no stage then or since has Abbott expressed the slightest concerns for the details in the report, nor has he disputed it factually. Instead, he is incredulous about how it affects him politically. Introducing legislation to gag detention workers. As far as this government is concerned, people that are genuinely concerned and devote time for the welfare of others are losers. How much money does a social worker or domestic violence counsellor make after all? What's their share price? Why would people devote their time to help people who can't even help themselves?

Bleeding heart lefties...with all their government expenditure, you'll never get into surplus by putting people before profit!

When media commentators denigrate the left they are deriding that factions inability to make money and the inability to provide practical solutions (i.e. those which costs the govt money (in the short term) rather than making it). When liberal commentators talk of the "right" - you can be sure that they are implying it is the wrong. This, again, is not entirely helpful because they are demonizing an entire cohort (justified as it may be) rather than actually discussing the policies and issues.

The only time you'll ever hear this government empathise is when it is politically advantageous to do so. That is the case for all western governments I guess, but particularly this one. They actually pride themselves in not caring about the suffering of others.

 

[The Passenger]

Great post Keithy George

I was trying to think of the article that really got my blood boiling from Miranda Devine and this is it, called a Darker Shade of Green.

To use the rape of someone as a platform to start attacking environmental policy shows that she is an absolute horrible and despicable human being.

 

[WA ROO]

Bloody mollydookas.

I prefer the saying "cack-handed"

 

[Lebbo73]

Great post Keithy George

I was trying to think of the article that really got my blood boiling from Miranda Devine and this is it, called a Darker Shade of Green.

To use the rape of someone as a platform to start attacking environmental policy shows that she is an absolute horrible and despicable human being.

What was wrong with that article? The same thing has happened where I live and the streets would have to be 50% darker. Your post is just emotional claptrap designed to appeal to the bleeding hearts. At no stage did Miranda say it was the woman's fault!

 

[The Passenger]

At no stage did Miranda say it was the woman's fault!

Comprehension not a strong point no?