Changes

: (1) We should emphasize again and again that '''not all issues lie on a one-dimensional political spectrum'''. (And in particular "favoring liberties" is one of those things that just isn't part of the political spectrum.)  

: (1) We should emphasize again and again that '''not all issues lie on a one-dimensional political spectrum'''. (And in particular "favoring liberties" is one of those things that just isn't part of the political spectrum.)  

: (2) When we talk about the political spectrum, we should try to define what it is. As far as I can tell, '''"right" usually means defending tradition; "left" usually means challenging tradition'''. Obviously that's a really general definition, but that's the point: if you don't make a general definition you can't clearly argue which things are left

: (2) When we talk about the political spectrum, we should try to define what it is. As far as I can tell, '''"right" usually means defending tradition; "left" usually means challenging tradition'''. Obviously that's a really general definition, but that's the point: if you don't make a general definition you can't clearly argue which things are left and which things are right (and which things are off that particular spectrum). This seems to be a good definition, because some of the main "rightist" causes in history have been: defending a country's traditional values and religion; defending the

and which things are right (and which things are off that particular spectrum). This seems to be a good definition, because some of the main "rightist" causes in history have been: defending a country's traditional values and religion; defending the

current system of government; joining the military to defend the country; protecting property by arguing against redistributive taxes. Some of the main "leftist" causes in history have been: defending people who want to do things that go against traditional values and religion; defending minority groups that do poorly under the current system of government; joining a revolution to challenge the current system; advocating taxes or other mechanisms to redistribute from those who are privileged under the current system to those who are not. I hope those descriptions don't sound insulting either from a "rightist" or "leftist" perspective, because I'm not trying to insult anybody or advocate one side. I'm just trying ot '''clarify where the big difference lies'''.

current system of government; joining the military to defend the country; protecting property by arguing against redistributive taxes. Some of the main "leftist" causes in history have been: defending people who want to do things that go against traditional values and religion; defending minority groups that do poorly under the current system of government; joining a revolution to challenge the current system; advocating taxes or other mechanisms to redistribute from those who are privileged under the current system to those who are not. I hope those descriptions don't sound insulting either from a "rightist" or "leftist" perspective, because I'm not trying to insult anybody or advocate one side. I'm just trying ot '''clarify where the big difference lies'''.