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Politics

Can someone explain some basic politics?

12 replies

bumblebee2235 · 08/07/2023 09:21

I've been getting more into watching news but I don't understand some terms..

I took a quiz and apparently I stand on libertarian left haha

But I'm not sure what left or right means? I always felt when people say lefty or right wing both are considered insults??? Or is it just a term? I thought right was racist left was like woke? But as Google says political parties are left or right it can't be that blunt?

Also what is meant with libertarian or authoritarian?

I also always presumed the only options really for government is labour or conservative... also what is republican?

Sorry if I sound dumb :( I'm too embarrassed to ask in real life incase it's obvious I should know.

OP posts:
Togiveandtoreceive · 08/07/2023 09:25

You don’t sound dumb op . You sound curious, and that’s a good thing

but if I were you - i would go on bbc bitesize or similar. You will find definitive definitions rather than mumsnetters interpretations

bumblebee2235 · 08/07/2023 09:29

@Togiveandtoreceive ooh thank you :) those links are perfect!

OP posts:
tribpot · 08/07/2023 09:48

@bumblebee2235 I think if more people asked these questions, we'd be in a better state than we currently are, and there could be more civilised disagreement between people who have different ideas about how to make the country (and/or the world) better. This book looks like it might interest you - I've no connection to it, I just had a look for a book or website called 'Politics for beginners'.

tribpot · 08/07/2023 09:51

Also I meant to say, I like TLDR News on YouTube for explainer videos on current topics.

bumblebee2235 · 08/07/2023 10:18

tribpot · 08/07/2023 09:48

@bumblebee2235 I think if more people asked these questions, we'd be in a better state than we currently are, and there could be more civilised disagreement between people who have different ideas about how to make the country (and/or the world) better. This book looks like it might interest you - I've no connection to it, I just had a look for a book or website called 'Politics for beginners'.

This is great! I've added to my basket :) thank you so much, I didn't know where to begin.

I've watched the bbc bite size video linked too very interesting.

OP posts:
CerberusWoof · 19/07/2023 21:34

The original meaning of left wing and right wing was economic. Right wing meant you supported the economic status quo, including its inbuilt inequalities (iow "conservative" because you wanted to conserve things as they are). Left wing meant you supported radical change to the way the economy is structured (which might mean socialism, communism or something else) in order to reduce those inequalities. The terms originated in the French national assembly during the French Revolution, when supporters of the king and the "ancien regime" stood to the king's right, and supporters of the revolution to his left.

It's a much more recent set of associations with this that has led to left wing also meaning "woke" and right wing meaning racist or socially conservative. People with right wing economic views often also have socially conservative views, and people who are willing to support radical change in economic terms are usually equally open to radically changing things in social terms - legalising homosexuality, gay marriage, opposing racism etc.

It's a very imperfect fit though. A lot of that association seems to come from the USA, where the right wing is all God and Family Values. Lots of right wingers in the UK are socially liberal, like David Cameron who brought in same sex marriage under a Tory government. By the same token Brexit, and the subsequent Tory landslide in 2019, worked by convincing the very large number of people who are economically left(ish) but socially conservative (particularly regarding immigration) that their priority should be the latter rather than the former.

Large numbers of people on this very forum consider themselves left wing in essentialist terms (ie supporting economic redistribution via taxation etc.), but feel that the political left (ie. the Labour party) has betrayed them by focusing too much on "identity politics", particularly trans rights at the expense of womens' rights.

dubsie · 21/07/2023 07:47

The problem is we are still making the same mistakes.... repeating history.

I read today an article in the telegraph about taxation and how it has failed Adams Smith's test...Adam Smith historical test for taxation which is over 200 years old. Why are we still using a political ideology that has failed time over to judge decisions we are making today. The answer is because be can't leave behind conservatism and labour and come up with new radical ideas that will solve today's problems.

You can't tax your way out of a mess but we also can't allow ourselves to end up with a mess like America or revert to previous historical era.

The conservatives are the predominant political force in British politics. So I'm afraid many of the problems we face today are the result of their views. We have to face the facts that certain things are best left for government to run and other things should be left to the private sector. The governments job is to work out how we fund them. Clean water, sewage, education, health, law and order are all pretty important and we need to accept the brutal truth that we have to pay for it.

When I see government after government shirking the responsibility of things of public interest because it isn't popular it makes my blood boil. What we need right now is a reality check....stuff needs to be paid and the longer we avoid the truth the worse things are going to get

dubsie · 21/07/2023 07:56

A good example is the two child benefit cap, probably very popular policy, but in practice fails the child and pushes larger families into poverty.

The ideology that families had more children to get more money....as peddled by the Daily Mail....but the truth is nothing like that. The reality is many larger families were working but through misfortune ended up reliant on welfare.

So while it's popular this policy has caused immense damage ....much like the bedroom tax....and not even Labour is brave enough to question it.

MsAmerica · 21/07/2023 20:43

I'll take a stab at it, although I'm looking at it from an American perspective.

Societies mostly seem to divide themselves into the two categories of "conservative" or "liberal." These days, conservatives are on the "right" and liberals are on the "left." (I say "these days," because apparently that hasn't always been the case.) Left/right are used as insults, but aren't necessarily. I lean left, for instance.

Conservatives traditionally tended to be on the side of business, they tended to be the party more money-oriented, they tended to support the military, to be more cautious, more fixated on stability, more likely to look to some golden past. Liberals, by contrast, tend to be more progressive, more forward-thinking, more advocating the rights of individuals, and so more interested in things like education and health care.

In America, the right does tend to be racist. That's partly because they have no interest in helping disadvantaged people. But in a way, that's partly because the right is exclusionary. They want all the rights and money for themselves. They don't much like the idea of women's rights, either. The liberals want the benefits to be distributed. "Woke" is a silly term that I wish people would give up, and it's bizarre that it's used as an insult. It basically referred, I think, to a kind of enlightenment, and it's typical of the right to use it as mockery. In America, at least, the right is far, far more extreme than the left.

Hope that helps a little.

sorrynotathome · 21/07/2023 20:46

Republicans are either American right wing or people who want to get rid of the monarchy.

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