I really wanted to keep from writing about politics here. However, sometimes, we have to do things we do not necessarily wish to. So here we go.
When people talk about the `Left’ and the `Right,’ they often are quite confused. On the left they place socialists, greens, communists, social democrats and even others. They claim the right is populated by liberals*, conservatives, fascists, Christian democrats and others. They are not wrong, but to pretend that greens, social democrats and communists are the same is foolhardy. And while many like to compare conservatives to fascists, there exists a world of difference between them. The whole left/right system is nothing but confusing and, when used this way, useless.
Enter a second axis. Surely we could use more, and this would further help us characterise political ideologies, however the added complexity is not necessary for an average citizen, only professional political scientists. Our second axis refers to social policy, leaving the old left/right for economics.
On one side, you have liberals, greens and social democrats. On the other you have communists, fascists, Christian democrats and conservatives. The first is called `GAL,’ which stands for Green, Alternative, Libertarian. The second `TAN,’ Traditional, Authoritarian, Nationalist.
This helps explain differences in ideology in a much more clear way than just using the old terminology of left/right. GAL/TAN has another use, as well. The Left/Right divide refers to traditional politics, where class differences were the key issue in elections. The Left and Right defined an economic standpoint: a continuum from a totally free market to an entirely planned economy. Of course, most parties were not at the extremes on this scale, but fell somewhere between.
New politics is much more based in social issues, rather than economics. Here the continuum is between government authority and personal freedoms. Rather than asking “How much taxation and income redistribution should the citizens face?”, new politics asks “How much control should the government have in peoples’ lives?” A good example of this divide is if homosexuals should have the right to get married. Traditionalists believe the answer is no, based on their beliefs, the past, and in many cases religious texts. The Libertarians believe hat this right should be granted, since they feel the government has no place legislating how people live their lives.
Again, at the extremes, we have very few parties. On one side, you would have an Orwellian dictatorship of perfect totalitarianism, on the other the government would cease to exist. Each of these is as undesirable as a completely free market or an entirely planned economy.
Finally, the reason why this was necissary. When we vote, we have to know what we are voting for. Thinking that a party’s economic stance is the only important thing is foolhardy, just as ignoring it entirely would be. Remember to take both new and old politics into consideration when we vote. There is often nothing wrong with their policies on one axis, however, often there are things hidden on the other.
*A final note: A liberal is someone who believes in total freedom, much like libertarians. In fact, the world outside of North America, where most democracies exist, use the world liberal where North Americans would use libertarian. By these definitions, liberals are Right-GAL. North American Liberals, on the other hand, are centrists, and tend to focus on compromise between the left and right, and usually tend to be on the GAL side of things.