Probably the weirdest thing about modern American politics, to me, is the fact that the myth that left-wingers favor government intervention and right-wingers favor individual liberty still holds, when it’s so bludgeoningly obvious that the opposite is in fact true.
At this point, it’s pretty much just a given if you read an article about some government banning something - denying some right or another - that it’s the right that’s doing it. That’s become their response to everything - whatever it is, we need to ban it. We need to get the government to interfere in everything, all the time.
Yet somehow, dunderheads continue to hold to this brazenly inaccurate myth that the left is the big government side and the right is the individual liberty side.
It’s just weird to me, and not weird in a scoffing, cynicsl way - weird in an entirely alien, this doesn’t even begin to even make sense way. It’s as if right-wingers are running around, alternately billing themselves as the “don’t get punched in the mouth” party and punching themselves in the mouth.
“See?! [Punch] If you vote for us [Punch] you won’t get punched! [Punch] We’re the party [Punch] that takes a stand against [Punch] punching! [Punch].”
Left-wingers generally want government intervention that applies to corporations and the wealthy, usually tax stuff to help fund social programs and regulations to keep people safe etc. Right-wingers generally want government intervention that applies to individuals, usually regarding stuff that does not actually affect them at all but they don’t like it so they want the government to force people to stop doing such things.
Probably the weirdest thing about modern American politics, to me, is the fact that the myth that left-wingers favor government intervention and right-wingers favor individual liberty still holds, when it’s so bludgeoningly obvious that the opposite is in fact true.
At this point, it’s pretty much just a given if you read an article about some government banning something - denying some right or another - that it’s the right that’s doing it. That’s become their response to everything - whatever it is, we need to ban it. We need to get the government to interfere in everything, all the time.
Yet somehow, dunderheads continue to hold to this brazenly inaccurate myth that the left is the big government side and the right is the individual liberty side.
It’s just weird to me, and not weird in a scoffing, cynicsl way - weird in an entirely alien, this doesn’t even begin to even make sense way. It’s as if right-wingers are running around, alternately billing themselves as the “don’t get punched in the mouth” party and punching themselves in the mouth.
“See?! [Punch] If you vote for us [Punch] you won’t get punched! [Punch] We’re the party [Punch] that takes a stand against [Punch] punching! [Punch].”
Left-wingers generally want government intervention that applies to corporations and the wealthy, usually tax stuff to help fund social programs and regulations to keep people safe etc. Right-wingers generally want government intervention that applies to individuals, usually regarding stuff that does not actually affect them at all but they don’t like it so they want the government to force people to stop doing such things.