Cpl Steiner Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Ah, the old right-wing/left-wing debate! Just to add my two penneth, politics should be seen as a circle rather than a straight line with two ends. Assuming it is like a clock-face, something like "Anarchy" would be at 12 o'clock, representing the total absence of any sort of interference in people's lives by the state. At 6 o'clock would be "Totalitarianism", in which the state has absolute control over every aspect of an individual's life. At about 3 o'clock would be "Conservatism" and at 9 o'clock would be "Socialism". Both are somewhere between anarchy and totalitarianism but they are on opposite sides of the clock-face because they have diametrically opposed ideas about the way society should be run. Essentially this split is about the extent to which a society's economy should be "planned" or driven by the "free market". You can get to totalitarianism by moving further left than socialism or further right than conservatism. In both cases, the central theme is loss of liberty for the individual and increasing interference by the state in the life of the individual. At least that's how I see it anyway! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durruti Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Er..yep that's a pretty good description of the "Political Compass" I just posted a link to! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpl Steiner Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Originally posted by Durruti: Er..yep that's a pretty good description of the "Political Compass" I just posted a link to! My apologies I didn't click on your link. Actually your link is better because it includes the area inside the clock-face, which admittedly I hadn't considered in my rather rushed post. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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