Why is it so important today to know whether a person is left or right? What do you think differentiates the way of thinking between a person on the left and a person on the right? What do you consider yourself?
Think about it, because today we start a new series of videos from the channel… And this is our first episode! And it's not just any series, okay? We will debate what our left and right stereotypes are, why we think so and how we can change that!
And if you're here now, don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss the next episodes. And you who already accompany us, already know: enjoy the video and comment what you think about this theme. History says that the terms left-right, as political positions, emerged during the French Revolution, in the 18th century.
All because in the Constituent Assembly, the Jacobins, who were considered more radical and aligned with the workers, sat on the left ( in the room where the Assembly took place), and the Girondins - seen as more moderate and articulate with the nobility - sat on the right. Well, many years have passed, and several theoretical developments have taken place, to arrive at what we now understand as left and right in the political debate. Today, in general, we organize the ideologies to the left or to the right thinking about what would be the role of the State, that is, the duties of the government, for one or the other side.
Usually, we see ideologies on the left as defenders of great State interventionism in the economy, and with the discourse of minimizing social inequalities. On the other hand, we see the ideologies on the right as defenders of a state with a limited role, mainly with the objective of guaranteeing the freedom of the individual. If the division of the role of the State to the right and to the left is easier to understand, it can be confusing when faced with specific ideologies that make up these political spectra.
For example, in communism, which is a political ideology located farther to the left, the state would be abolished. That's right! Stateless!
Want another example? Some countries said to be liberal, that is, of a political ideology considered right - wing, appear as intolerant of religious differences. Did not understand?
Remember with me: we said that almost always define someone as right-wing, because that person defends the minimal intervention of the State, right? This minimum intervention would be precisely to guarantee freedom. So, if we think that someone / or a country defends the limited power of the State to guarantee the freedom of the individual, but does not allow / defend religious freedom it can be contradictory, Well… but why do these confusions exist?
Generally, because we do not take into account the different currents of thought within the left or the right. In other words, because we always find it easier to summarize things only on the left or right. To explain this better, we can use the political compass.
Basically, it is a Cartesian plan that considers the behavior of left and right from the economic and social dimensions. You may have already seen it out there . .
. and it is worth saying that this model is also a simplification that does not solve all of our problem of understanding left-right. The point is that this plan can show us, for example, how a right-wing government can defend agendas of the feminist movement, traditionally seen as left-wing.
Or how a left-wing government, generally recognized for defending minorities, can oppress those same minorities. Let me explain: in general, the horizontal line tells us how the economy works. On the left would be collectivist modes of production - such as an economy with great state control or self-managed by a network of communities.
On the right would be modes of production more focused on the individual, think here about the characteristics of capitalism and the defense of private property. The vertical line, on the other hand, shows us the level of state interference in personal preferences , varying between authoritarian and libertarian, that is: greater or lesser control over the individual. Is it so impossible for a person on the left to agree at some point - or at any level - with a person on the right?
And does everyone on the left agree on everything? Or does everyone on the right agree on everything? You already know where I want to go, right?
As we always say around here, you can't put everything in two left and right boxes and say that this is it. When we stop and look more closely at political preferences, we realize that there are not just two opposing sides. There are a multitude of things in the middle that make room for a lot of dialogue.
Next week we'll be back with the second episode! And we are going to talk about abortion. Take advantage and tell us in the comments which theme you think is lost in this confusion of left and right, and it would be nice for us to look more closely in the next videos.
It helps us to go beyond stereotypes and build a healthy debate around here. See you next week!
