Disillusioned Righty
Posted on August 11, 2006 - Filed Under Politics | 2 Comments
This is neither a parody, nor anything similar, of Kevin and Michael’s superb blog, but rather a re-assessment of my own political orientation, with an apt, albeit derivative, title.
Since sometime in sixth year, perhaps even prior to that, my politics started drifting rightwards in a slow yet persistent manner, or at least my ‘economic’ politics did. By ‘ecomonic’ politics I mean issues such as taxation and other fiscal matters. It appeared to me then, and still does despite a brush with John Rawles, that it is not fair to take away some of the money a person has earned and then give it to a person who has not earned it. Other influences such as the Economist and incidents such as the Mohammad cartoon protests further strengthened my conviction that the Right, apart from some backward ideas about social issues, was well named when it came to most major issues.
However, all the while there was something quite uncomfortable about taking the right-wing line on things, for a few reasons. Firstly, when it comes to ‘social’ politics, I don’t agree with it at all. I am strongly secular, pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage. Secondly, when it comes to the environment, I dispise the typical pro-business-and-to-hell-with-the-earth attitude espoused by many right-wing types. Thirdly, many, if not most, right-wingers are not very nice people.
The last reason given is obviously a stereotype but, like so many other stereotypes, there’s a rich vein of truth flowing through it. The very foundations of right-wing politics seem to me to be about maintaining the status quo and low taxation, which, of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with, even though many lefties abhor them. The Left’s agenda seems concerned with making everyone the same and thus taking money from the rich to give to the poor, which has come to be seen as equally acceptable, even though many on the right claim it is not. By virtues of their goals, the Left and the Right attract different types of people, and it seems to me that the Right tends to draw more selfish and mean-spirited people than the Left.
This is not to say that all left-wingers are nice, good, or even tolerable people. Historical tyrants such as Stalin and modern day thugs such as the dastardly shinners put paid to any such notions. Having said that, it does seem to me that the left tends to generally attract nicer people overall than the right. For example, I would never vote for the Labour Party and I think Michael McDowell is one of the best politicians in the country, yet if I had to go for a drink with either Ruairí Quinn or McDowell I would chose Quinn because, even if I don’t agree with him on most things, he seems like a nicer person. An even more extreme version of this idea is seen in America, where deeply unpleasant people such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld make up an administration which I would go as far as to say is, if not evil, then certainly sinister.
I think the primary cause of my recent shift leftwards, or more precisely what occassioned it, was reading about proposals in Spain by Zapatero’s socialist government to extend some core human rights to great ape species such as gorillas. Naturally, I think this is an excellent idea, even if most people reading this blog will probably think it lunacy. Further cause has arrived in recent weeks with the actions of Israel, who traditionally enjoy the support of the right, but have lost mine. However, the final coffin nail has been Fox News, whose coverage of the Middle East conflict I have witnessed in recent days and found very hard to bear. I know that’s not a good reason at all to move away from right wing politics, but, well,…..
Anyway, I’m back in the centre. Left on social issues, right on economic ones. A classical liberal. Hurrah.
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2 Responses to “Disillusioned Righty”
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think its better to say that you fall into the ‘Libretarian Right’ to be honest.You believe in ‘personal’ liberty like gay-rights but are economicaly to the right.to be honest i think your assesment of the ‘bad’ parts of the right are a bit ‘american-centric’ where the phrases and ideas are just messed up anyway..
Maybe you’re right. What I was trying to get at though was the general unpleasantness that often pervades right-wing thinking. This unpleasantness is manifest in certain commentators, such as a notorious Irish blogger who features in my blogroll (and I don’t mean Wulfbeorn).