It is important to know if you are on the right or on the left in deciding your future perspective. Generally, people on the left favor social fairness, while those on the right believe that these things happen naturally. By reading this article you will find out which category you belong to, so let's get started!
Steps
Step 1. Evaluate political positions
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Leftists argue:
- Social welfare programs (meal vouchers, homeless shelter, unemployment benefits)
- Freedom of religion and separation of the church from the state
- Higher or progressive taxes
- Environmentalism
- Trade protectionism
- Government expansion into new areas
- Regulations of trade unions and industries
- Social change or social justice
- Workers rights
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Right-wing people argue:
- Government reforms-funded assistance programs
- Religious or traditional values, allowing institutions to replace government services
- Conservatism
- Nationalism
- Reduced taxes (even for the rich)
- International freedom - trade agreements
- Limit government control over the businesses of entrepreneurs
- Reduce industrial regulations
Tell Whether You're Right Wing or Left Wing Step 2 Step 2. Look at the language they use to describe themselves
- Center-left people describe themselves as: progressive, social democratic or socioliberal.
- Far left people describe themselves as anti-capitalist, communist, socialist, libertarian (anarchist) socialist.
- Center-right people describe themselves as: conservative, capitalist or liberal.
- Far-right people describe themselves as nationalist, conservative, traditionalist, often clerical and opposed to democracy.
- Fascism is considered an ideology of the far right, which originally mixed elements of socialism (non-Marxist), nationalism, republicanism, secularism, military interventionism and street violence, which then moved towards conservative, clerical and de facto positions it was a dictatorship.
- Nazism was also born as a fusion between socialism and nationalism (national socialism) which, however, took on the characteristics of a totalitarian, racist, violent and warmongering regime.
- Center people believe they are in a moderate position to the right and left.
- Liberals and Christian Democrats (also called "popular") are in the center. For the rest, there is no clear definition of "center".
Tell Whether You're Right Wing or Left Wing Step 3 Step 3. Check these qualities to know which ones belong to you and then place yourself on the right, left, center or other
Advice
- Right-wing people believe that the government intervenes too much in private affairs. He believes that the authority of government and the law controls the free market. Some examples of right-wing people: Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.
- Leftists believe that government is important for social justice and therefore must intervene to help individuals for this purpose. Some examples of leftists: Tony Benn, Fidel Castro, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
Warnings
- Pay attention to terms such as far right, center-left, or when the center is not specified. The Democratic Party is considered for the most part left in the United States, while in Europe it can be considered center-right.
- Political labels can have different meanings based on nations or historical periods. An Australian "liberal" supports the right-wing Liberal Nationalist Party, while in America a "liberal" supports the left-wing Democratic Party.
- There are many quizzes online to determine which political bracket you belong to, but many of them are not reliable. Some may be counterfeit to get people to label themselves in a specific industry. Others may be simply wrong.
- Important information could be lost by squeezing the entire political spectrum into a single axis. Two politicians may disagree on every important topic and therefore are called moderates. Some prefer a 2-dimensional model, with economic problems on one axis and personal freedom on the other. Others also prefer models with multiple sizes.
