tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13526463.post116593527135585492..comments2023-09-11T05:36:43.626-05:00Comments on PAPER CLIPPINGS by Crossroads: Rule of thumbCrossroads Cultural Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392094373026938942noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13526463.post-1166176405855663902006-12-15T04:53:00.000-05:002006-12-15T04:53:00.000-05:00I'm not sure the distinction you're making is real...I'm not sure the distinction you're making is real and if so if the comparison is relevant. The first problem is what do you actually mean by right wing and left wing? For example it's immediately interesting that you don't include Hitler with 'left-wing'. People who call themselves socialist are usually immediately labeled as left wing. But more importantly you say that left wing dictatorships kill more people than right wing dictatorships. How much is this related to the size of the countries you're comparing?<BR/>Also, in general terms, right wing governments are more 'disengaged' with their population. In the worst case this simply means their are no checks on abuse by the ruling class. And vast quantities of poor people die from neglect or direct abuse by the ruling class. How would you factor that in.<BR/>Ultimately it comes down to who has the power and how is the abuse of power is controlled, not what flavor of politics the abusers claim to believe in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13526463.post-1165985857547378352006-12-12T23:57:00.000-05:002006-12-12T23:57:00.000-05:00precisely because usually the lefties are driven b...precisely because usually the lefties are driven by some messianic ideology about how to fix the world, while usually the right wing has been a reaction against the leftist ideology. This dynamics goes all the way back to the jacobins and the reactionaries during the French revolution. In fact, it has been a dominant theme of modern European history.Crossroads Cultural Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02392094373026938942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13526463.post-1165965683549027932006-12-12T18:21:00.000-05:002006-12-12T18:21:00.000-05:00ok, so why do lefties tend to be totalitarian and ...ok, so why do lefties tend to be totalitarian and the righties authoritarian?Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01262662173303042998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13526463.post-1165951462891986822006-12-12T14:24:00.000-05:002006-12-12T14:24:00.000-05:00The distincion isn't left/right, but rather author...The distincion isn't left/right, but rather authoritarian/totalitarian -- a point made by the late Jeanne Kirkpatrick.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com