So what defines right and left?

I am surprised that I have been identified as left.
I have AFAIK never discussed distribution of assets or lauded the working class as the true inherirors of the earth.
I have never used class as a definet of rights, as did Marx.
Yet some here have lanelled me as left.
What I actually stand for is equality of opportunity, human rights and strengthening women against misogyny.
If you who dress to the right opposé this then what do you stand for?

 

The Left believes in equality. The Right believes in excellence.

(do you know what "dressing to the right" means?)

See also https://kirkcenter.org/conservatism/ten-conservative-principles/

 

I AM 66 and have always been liberal, but then i go back to FDR type liberalism, i have grown up tolerating extreme rightwing JBS dogma....the modern right has been a resurgence of the JBS BS funded by the Koch bros mixed in with the evangelical belief system which compose todays trump populists, conservative "small government" conservatives exist but are labeled RINOS by the poplulist..one could say as a liberal i stand for the rights of all the people our glorious founders neglected, while the right apparently want a word for word return to the mid 1750s

 

Of course I know what "dressing to the right: means. That is why I use it to indicate where you think your préférence lies.
Excellence had nothing to do with left/right biad. We all want excellence.

 

Yep.
Small government that gets into your bed.
None of which of course is mentioned by Marx whose issues were purely around class .

 

I dress to the left.

The left these days believes in equity, i.e equality of outcome. Excellence means some do better than others.

 

what is forgotten, is the populist cry for government help during the great depression and the creation of the help, that alone tells me people are better off with the help (taken for granted) and yes people like ann coulter decry FDR and i still find crockpot rightwing stuff slamming him from time to time..it is a time tested method that the right stirs up hysteria with social issues to get their party to vote against their own economic issues, and the republican party has been always on the wrong end of social issues, always....
and NO the abolitionist republican party bears no resemblance to the modern party no matter how much RW BS is pushed

 

If I am "of the left" I believe in human rights and equality of opportunity as described by the UN.
If you opposé that as being "of the right" what does that define you as believing?

 

You will never achieve equality of outcome.
But you can achieve excellence of potential.

 

I have been labeled Left and Right depending on who I’m chatting with. Many people seem to have this odd fascination with having to fit people into their little boxes. They are somehow not aware that there are people who have some beliefs that would “typically” fall under conservative beliefs as well as having beliefs that would “typically” fall under liberal beliefs.
I believe in personal freedoms.

 

When you provide positions based on race, you are supporting equality.
When you provide positions based on skill set, you are supporting excellence.

You can't have both at the same time.

 

Let’s dissect your position and see if we can identify why you might be considered left.

You provided three ideals which you declare you believe in. Would you mind expounding upon those?

Please define what you mean by equality of opportunity.

Please define which groups of human rights you’re concerned with (I assume you don’t mean pedophiles so which humans are you referring?).

Please define what you mean by strengthening women against misogyny (I assume you don’t mean you want to dictate requirements for hiring a certain amount of women or maybe you do).

 

Equality of opportunity should never apply. I lacked the opportunity to go to Julliard because I could never be more than a mediocre musician.

But today, the progressives in Virginia want to scrap the merit based entrance exam to Thomas Jefferson High School and replace it with a random lottery. This in the name of equality of opportunity. Mediocre students have an equal opportunity as the gifted ones.

 

I stand for a smaller, less intrusive, less corrupt, more competent federal government and really not much else. All the other stuff is just details. The state of federal government is the proverbial 900lb gorilla.

 

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then all the agencies created since FDR should be abolished and after those job creators crash the stock market over and over populists will emerge to DEMAND federal help and creation or government agencys to do so

 

The left wants equal outcomes where everyone gets a participation trophy in a cookie and there are no winners or losers.

The right wants equal opportunity to sink or swim to your own ability.

That is the fundamental difference.

 

Then it is the job of the school to vary the curriculum to challenge all levels ofcability.
I was teaching mixed ability classes for years before I retired, often preparing at least two different levels of material on the same subject.

 

The first proposition is illegal.

 

The government certainly doesn't seem to think so.

 

the fundamental difference is i don't mind if michael phelps wins a gold medal, but we can't let people drown if all they need is a life preserver or maybe some cpr.

 

Spoken like a true right winger, screw the poor.

 

What your cute little picture there fails to show is what if there's a couple other short kids and there's no crates for them to stand on?

You cannot make outcomes equal for everyone. Expecting the government to do so is a fool's errand

 

The problem with civilization across time and culture is not ideological, theological, racial, gender or anything other than a sector of the population that is intelligent and sociopathic.

 

Govt can do more for more than private enterprise. And of course you believe that if all can't be helped then none should be.