This is not to say that I think they are equally bad or that there should be a “united front” or some non-sense like that!

It just seems like the traditional left / right distinction, even when extended by the authoritarian / libertarian axis doesn’t seem to reflect political opinions a very well anymore (and maybe never did).

As a shower-thought I recently considered “rooted” Vs. “mobile” as less ideologically loaded and more descriptive terms of the actually different mind-sets people seem to have. This seems to fit to many aspects of the ideological divide found in today’s world.

Any other suggestions?

P.S.: of course just inventing new terms & definitions doesn’t change anything (and NewSpeak is certainly a danger), but keep using outdated and overloaded terms is also not the solution.

  • Travis Skaalgard
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    12 years ago

    Left/right is a good paradigm if we’re looking at power in the hands of the many vs. in the hands of the few, I feel like, but it is increasingly watered down and applied to issues for which is it inappropriate. The US culture war is a good example of this.