Right-wing politics

In politics, right-wing historically referred to a society run by natural law or tradition. It currently can refer to a belief set made up of economic and social conservatism, and support for a strong military and an active foreign policy. The term, as well as left-wing come from the French Revolution, a reference to where people sat in parliament, although there was also a theory where the terms originated from the Book of Revelations relating to Jesus transfiguring those on his left side and right side into goats and sheep, respectively.

The term Rightist refers to someone on the 'right' side of the political spectrum. Politics on the 'right' usually imply taking positions in favor of the traditional system of a society, including its traditional values and its traditional ruling institutions. Compare: leftist. Following the left-right political spectrum, a "Right-Winger" could be referred to as anyone who favors having marginally more economic than personal liberties.

It is widely accepted, however, that there is not just one dimension of political thought, so that people can unambiguously be classified as 'right' or 'left'. Nonetheless, the political spectrum theory still has wide currency.

Conservatism

A conservative is someone who rises above his personal self-interest and promotes moral and economic values beneficial to all. A conservative is willing to learn and advocate the insights of economics and the logic of the Bible for the benefit of everyone else. A conservative favors conserving value by not giving handouts to anyone who does not really need them.

A conservative typically adheres to principles of personal responsibility, moral values, and limited government, agreeing with George Washington's Farewell Address that "religion and morality are indispensable supports" to political prosperity.

Religious conservatism is a big driver of social conservatism. Religious conservatism is growing in the world and it is affecting politics (see: Religious conservatism and politics).

Phil Crane, the leading conservative congressman in the House from 1969 to 2005, urged people to make the world a better place than where they found it, and quoted frequently from the Bible in pursuit of that goal.

Former President Ronald Reagan said, "The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom."

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, was a conservative who said, "Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong."

Decline of leftism

See also: Decline of leftism

Rise of right-wing parties in Europe

In the 21st century, right-wing nationalist parties have been growing in Europe due to: the Eurozone Crisis; Euroskepticism (backlash to the increasingly centralized European Union and its globalist/open border policies); high youth unemployment in some European countries; low economic growth in various European countries; backlash to immigration and the European migrant crisis; a growing Islamic terrorism problem and growing levels of government debt in various European countries.

The Guardian reported in 2015 that merely a one-third of European countries are ruled by center-left governments.

In 2017, the New York Times reported that Italy is "one of the last major center-left governments standing in Europe." In November of 2017, the Irish Times reported that "Italy takes sharp turn right ahead of general election",

In August of 2017, the Express reported:

“

Alessandra Ghisleri revealed a collection of right-wing parties now enjoy enough total support to win next year’s Italian election as a coalition. She revealed the largest left-wing party, on the other hand, was struggling to reach 30 per cent approval, with the second-largest left-wing party in Italy on 29 per cent.

”

See also

• Leftism
• Decline of leftism