{"id":3957,"date":"2017-01-24T15:56:14","date_gmt":"2017-01-24T23:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=3957"},"modified":"2017-01-24T15:56:14","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T23:56:14","slug":"political-labels-use-correctly-left-right-liberal-fascist-john-laurits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/01\/24\/political-labels-use-correctly-left-right-liberal-fascist-john-laurits\/","title":{"rendered":"Political Labels & How to Use Them Correctly: Left, Right, Liberal, & Fascist (by John Laurits)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Political
\nMany say\u00a0that Donald Trump is a\u00a0fascist<\/strong><\/em>, Fox News has repeatedly referred to Barack Obama as a\u00a0socialist<\/strong><\/em>, and, if you read the comments below my articles on Facebook, it won\u2019t take long to\u00a0find some dingbat claiming that I\u2019m\u00a0a\u00a0liberal<\/strong><\/em> hack (usually with all-caps, too). All of these\u00a0political labels, however, are wrong. On most days of the week, Trump preaches nationalism & laissez-faire capitalism (not fascism<\/em>), Obama promoted neoliberal policies (not socialist<\/a>\u00a0 <\/strong>ones<\/em>), &\u00a0I am\u00a0an anarcho-syndicalist<\/em>\u00a0hack, not a liberal one. It\u2019s clear what people mean to say, of course \u2014 most who say\u00a0Trump is a \u201cfascist\u201d are really trying to express their concern that he may abuse his\u00a0presidential powers and, by \u201csocialist,\u201d Fox News\u00a0was saying\u00a0they were upset\u00a0that a Black man was regulating business, which was always Bill O\u2019Reilly\u2019s greatest fear\u2026<\/p>\n

Political Labels<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In these examples, political labels are used in ways that distort their meaning. This is important because, if you & I have different meanings for words like left, right, conservative, liberal, & socialist<\/strong><\/em>, it\u2019s hard to communicate\u00a0our ideas to each other. No one ought to feel bad or be made fun of for mixing up terms or labels and it\u2019s fine to not know the meaning of a word \u2014 it happens to all of us and it\u2019s an opportunity to learn! Now, let\u2019s look at the most commonly misunderstood, misapplied, & mixed up political labels\u2026.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Left vs. Right<\/h2>\n
\n

\"National<\/a><\/p>\n

The interior of the French National Assembly building at the time of the French Revolution. (Photo by Rischgitz\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Left versus right \u2014 the great political divide! This pair of political labels first reared their ugly heads<\/strong><\/a> during the French Revolution \u2014 in the national assembly, supporters of\u00a0the king sat on the right side & supporters of the revolution, many of them revolutionary socialists, sat on the left side. Newspapers began to describe the assembly in\u00a0the terms left & right and it all sort of snowballed from there. By the beginning of the 20th century,\u00a0those who wanted social reform or greater equality, like socialists & communists, were described as being to the left, while reactionaries & defenders of the current\u00a0establishments & constitutions were described as being to the right.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, leftists want to reform how\u00a0power & wealth is distributed by a society<\/strong> through social, democratic, economic, or revolutionary means and the right defends\u00a0society\u2019s institutions from\u00a0idealistic reforms<\/strong> or\u00a0tries\u00a0to get rid of previous reforms.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Liberal & Conservative<\/h2>\n
\n

\"Political<\/a><\/p>\n

Political Dialogue in the US<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The words, \u201cliberal\u201d<\/strong> (from Latin liber<\/em>, \u201cfree\u201d) & \u201cconservative\u201d<\/strong> (con<\/em>\u00a0\u201ctogether\u201d +\u00a0servare\u00a0<\/em>\u201cto save\u201d = \u201cto keep together\u201d\u00a0<\/em>), can be used to describe the ideas\u00a0of keeping things as they are\u00a0& being free to change them. In that sense, they can work similarly to left & right \u2014 the word \u201cliberal,\u201d however, is only applied to leftists\u00a0in the United States. Outside of the US, a liberal is someone who promotes the ideas of\u00a0liberalism<\/em><\/strong>, a political philosophy that emerged during\u00a0the Enlightenment, influencing the uprisings against the European monarchies.<\/p>\n

As the name suggests, liberalism promoted free speech, freedom of (& from<\/em>) religion, freedom of the press, & free markets<\/strong><\/em>. To achieve this, liberals opposed\u00a0the absolute power of monarchies<\/strong><\/a>, which allowed rulers & noble classes to take away the people\u2019s freedom & property. The liberal solution was that everybody should have\u00a0rights<\/strong> &\u00a0equality before the law<\/strong>\u2014 meaning that kings & beggars ought to be equally accountable to written laws (like a constitution), instead of\u00a0the pope or a jerk wearing a crown. When the word is used this way, republicans & democrats are\u00a0both liberals<\/strong><\/em> because both want more-or-less free markets & a constitutional government to\u00a0protect certain\u00a0rights.<\/p>\n

This can be confusing for some in the US because a right-wing republican\u00a0is a liberal<\/em><\/strong>, while a leftist advocate of\u00a0socialism<\/strong> (like me) is not a liberal.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fascist vs. Authoritarian<\/h2>\n
\n

\"Fasces,<\/a><\/p>\n

Fasces, a symbol out of ancient Rome<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I\u2019ve heard many people on both the left & right hurl \u201cfascist\u201d<\/strong> at each other \u2014 in fact, the word has been mostly used negatively from the time of World War II. The word itself came from the Italian \u201cFascismo<\/em>,\u201d<\/strong> derived from the verb \u201cto bundle or bind,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> from the Latin \u201cfasces.\u201d<\/strong> A fasces was a bundle of wooden rods, often with an ax included, and a symbol of\u00a0rulership & collective power in Rome<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 a single rod can easily be broken but many rods bundled together are\u00a0impossible to snap. Benito Mussolini & his fascist party used the symbol for their ideology, which promised a return to the glory of the Rome by binding the industrial & social forces together into a militarized, central government<\/strong><\/a>, led by a strong leader.<\/p>\n

Scholars are still arguing about the best definition but virtually all of them agree that the fascists were both anti-liberal & anti-socialist<\/strong> \u2014 which means that Donald Trump,\u00a0in particular, is not a fascist<\/strong><\/em>. Anti-liberal means anti-capitalist and the fascists had a mostly planned economy, which would horrify the capitalist Trump! The word most people are looking for is \u201cauthoritarian.\u201d<\/strong> An authoritarian leader or government demands & enforces the obedience of those below and pretty much any system of government can be authoritarian, including socialist & capitalist ones. The opposite of authoritarian is \u201clibertarian.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Words are Important
\n& Knowledge is Power<\/h2>\n

Words are important<\/strong> \u2014 using the right ones can empower us to clearly present our thoughts & ideas for others and, unfortunately, choosing the wrong ones can be the cause of endless arguments over nothing. For example, advocating for\u00a0\u201cdemocratic control of the means of production\u201d almost never starts a heated debate, in my experience \u2014 talking about \u201csocialism,\u201d<\/strong><\/a> however, is pretty much guaranteed\u00a0to start a heated debate! The amazing part is that these\u00a0two things are the same! It\u2019s not that people are unwilling to discuss different ideas \u2014 it\u2019s just that we sometimes don\u2019t have the same understanding of a\u00a0word or concept.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, I hope this article can help at least a few of you transform some\u00a0arguments into good discussions \u2014 thanks for reading.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In solidarity,
\nJohn Laurits<\/em>
\n(JohnLaurits.com)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many say\u00a0that Donald Trump is a\u00a0fascist, Fox News has repeatedly referred to Barack Obama as a\u00a0socialist, and, if you read the comments below my articles on Facebook, it won\u2019t take long to\u00a0find some dingbat claiming that I\u2019m\u00a0a\u00a0liberal hack (usually with all-caps, too). All of these\u00a0political labels, however, are wrong. On… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3957"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3957"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3958,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3957\/revisions\/3958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}