A Guide to Basic Differences Between the Left and Right

Written by Dennis Prager, published at Town Hall, 1-17-17:

right-vs-left

Source of Human Rights

Left: government

Right: the Creator

 

Human Nature

Left: basically good (Therefore, society is primarily responsible for evil.)

Right: not basically good (Therefore, the individual is primarily responsible for evil.)

 

Economic Goal

Left: equality

Right: prosperity

 

Primary Role of the State

Left: increase and protect equality

Right: increase and protect liberty

 

Government

Left: as large as possible

Right: as small as possible

 

Family Ideal

Left: any loving unit of people

Right: a married father and mother, and children

 

Guiding Trinity

Left: race, gender and class

Right: liberty, In God We Trust and e pluribus Unum

 

Good and Evil

Left: relative to individual and/or society

Right: based on universal absolutes

 

Humanity’s Primary Division(s)

Left: rich and poor; strong and weak

Right: good and evil

 

Ideal Primary Identity of an American

Left: world citizen

Right: American citizen

 

How to Make a Good Society

Left: abolish inequality

Right: develop each citizen’s moral character

 

View of America

Left: profoundly morally flawed; inferior to any number of European countries

Right: greatest force for good among nations in world history

 

Gender

Left: a social construct

Right: male and female

 

Most Important Trait to Cultivate in a Child

Left: self-esteem

Right: self-control

 

Worth of the Human Fetus

Left: determined by the mother

Right: determined by society rooted in Judeo-Christian values

 

Primary Source of Crime

Left: poverty, racism and other societal flaws

Right: the criminal’s malfunctioning conscience

 

Place of God and Religion in America

Left: secular government and secular society

Right: secular government and religious society

 

American Exceptionalism

Left: chauvinistic doctrine

Right: historical reality

 

Greatest Threat to the World

Left: environmental catastrophe (currently global warming)

Right: evil (currently radical Islamist violence)

 

International Ideal

Left: world governed by the United Nations, and no single country is dominant

Right: world in which America is the single strongest entity

 

Primary Reason for Lack of Peace in Middle East

Left: Israeli settlements in the West Bank

Right: Palestinian, Arab and Muslim denial of Jewish state’s right to exist

 

Purpose of Art

Left: challenge status quo and bourgeois sensibilities

Right: produce works of beauty and profundity to elevate the individual and society

 

Guns

Left: ideally universally abolished, except for use by police, the armed forces and registered sportsmen

Right: ideally widely owned by responsible individuals for self-protection and the protection of others

 

Race

Left: intrinsically significant

Right: intrinsically insignificant

 

Racial, Ethnic and Gender Diversity at Universities

Left: most important

Right: far less important than ideological diversity

 

Black America’s Primary Problem

Left: racism

Right: lack of fathers

 

Greatest Playwright

Left: entirely subjective; there is no greatest playwright

War

Left: not the answer

Right: sometimes the only answer

 

Hate

Left: wrong, except when directed at the political

Right: wrong, except when directed at evil

 

Cultures

Left: all equal

Right: some are better than others

 

America’s Founding Fathers

Left: rich white male slave owners

Right: great men who founded the greatest society

 

Purpose of Judges

Left: pursue social justice

Right: pursue justice

 

National Borders

Left: a relic of the past

Right: indispensable for national survival

 

View of Illegal Immigrants

Left: welcomed guests

Right: illegal immigrants

 

Nature

Left: intrinsically valuable

Right: made for man

~~~~~~~~~

Prager omitted the part where the left acts like 4 year-olds throwing temper tantrums when they don’t get their way, but other than that he sums it up nicely. It’s so basic that even the lefties could understand it. (although that could be a stretch)

Kathy



Categories: Political

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2 replies

  1. It would very hard, if not impossible, to compile a list of differences that everyone on the right would agree with, but Prager’s done a good job. One that I would change: “Greatest Threat to the World.” From my perspective It’s the mental disease of liberalism, hands down.

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  2. THis is a good overview, and to the point!

    THANKS!!

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