Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: red/blue schism

[normangauss (normangauss]

Chris:

    I think that introducing political ideas from Europe and Asia are not
germaine to what has occurred in the United States in the last century.

    Ever since FDR was able to marshal the full force of federal government
to try to improve the economic life of the average person, the liberal
tradition in this country has implied that big government is the friend of
the liberals, even if it means restricting freedoms and appointing "Big
Brother" czars to accomplish its ends.

    Conservatives, having relied on the more traditional modes of achieving
their goals, are more likely to see the abuses of big government and to feel
the pain when big government places restrictions on economic activity.

    This kind of dichotomy was also manifest in the UK when big government
ran almost the whole country in the fifties and sixties, and did a lousy
job.  Thus Thatcher and Reagan came to power in the 1980's because of these
excesses.

    I agree that Stalin and Gandhi were reformers, but were they liberals in
the sense that we Americans understand.  Stalin and Lenin were
revolutionaries but I would not call them liberals, because neither one
cared about social welfare.  All they wanted to do was replace the power of
the aristocracy with their own power by whatever means available.  Gandhi
and Martin Luther King cared about social welfare and that is the main
thrust of the liberal tradition in the United States and the UK.

Norm Gauss

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris ScottHanson" <chris [at] cohousingresources.com>
To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 7:38 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ red/blue schism


> Too linear I think, Norm.  Have a look at the concept of the new
> "Political Compass".
> http://www.politicalcompass.org/
>
> Especially, you might want to look at the graphic which helps me
> understand it, at...
> http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/extremeright.php
>
> QUOTE FROM A WEB SITE...
> "Welcome to The Political Compass. There's abundant evidence for the
> need of it. The old one-dimensional categories of 'right' and 'left' ,
> established for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly
> of 1789, are overly simplistic for today's complex political landscape.
> For example, who are the 'conservatives' in today's Russia? Are they
> the unreconstructed Stalinists, or the reformers who have adopted the
> right-wing views of conservatives like Margaret Thatcher ?  On the
> standard left-right scale, how do you distinguish leftists like Stalin
> and Gandhi? It's not sufficient to say that Stalin was simply more left
> than Gandhi. There are fundamental political differences between them
> that the old categories on their own can't explain. Similarly, we
> generally describe social reactionaries as 'right-wingers', yet that
> leaves left-wing reactionaries like Robert Mugabe and Pol Pot off the
> hook."
>
> This may still be too simplistic, and the political "compass" may
> indeed have to be looked at in something like three or more dimensions.
>
> As we did years ago with Myers-Briggs personality types, it might be
> interesting to plot individuals and their communities this way to
> better understand who we really are, politically.
>
> Chris ScottHanson
>
>
> On Feb 21, 2005, at 5:16 PM, <normangauss [at] charter.net> wrote:
>
> > While the general pattern in cohousing may emphasize liberalism,
> > conservative elements may appear wherever couples differ within
> > themselves.
> > Thus one spouse may be liberal and the other conservative, and the main
> > reason for living in a cohousing community may be at the wishes of the
> > liberal spouse.
> >
> > Libertarians have often thought of the political spectrum in terms of
> > personal freedoms and to what extent the government should control
> > peoples lives.  For example:
> >
> > Libertarians believe government's only purpose is to protect people
> > from coercion and violence. They value individual responsibility, and
> > tolerate economic and social diversity.  This is the Jeffersonian
> > ideal.
> >
> > Left-Liberals prefer liberty in personal matters and central
> > decision-making on economics. They want government to serve the
> > disadvantaged in the name of fairness.  Roosevelt's New Deal and
> > Johnson's Great Society are examples.
> >
> > Centrists are middle of the road people who believe in compromise.
> >
> > Right-Conservatives prefer liberty on economic issues, but want
> > official standards in personal matters. They want the government to
> > defend the community from threats to its moral fiber.  Fundamentalist
> > Christians think this way.
> >
> > Authoritarians believe in strong government in order to advance
> > society through expert central planning.  Socialists think this way.
> >
> > So, are the leading trends in cohousing along the Left-Liberal way of
> > thinking?
> >
> > Norm Gauss
> > Oak Creek Commons
> > Paso Robles, CA
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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> >
>
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