Do you think the best way to think about politics is to choose to be how left or right issue by issue you are?

Question

Could one think about and write downl the issues one cares about to try and hint at what one cares about politically then to rank them one by one as truthfully and objectivly to oneself as one can for amount left or right on each issue as well as one's overall instincual gut feeling of leftness or rightness to try and hint at a self assessment of what ones personal position on the spectrum of left to right truely might be and see if it makes sense? I mean not totally depending on this but as just a small part of how a person picks a political position and perhaps what changes they want to see there to there parties positions on certain issues? And when one is discovering what ones position is it would be nice if they tryed to include the seperation of church and state and what that truely and objectivly means to them in there considerations of there positions issue by issue? I feel like this would help both the party's to at least deal with curruption because neither party wants that.

It's funny how my idea is rejected as not a good idea to attempt and then it is immediatly attempted..

and as a matter of fact it looks like it works.

and of course not everyone has a left or right position on a particular issue and that's fine too, but many people do.

Answer 1

I saw three 'answers' that didn't attempt to answer the question. I believe the only intelligent way to vote is to decide where you stand on each issue and vote for the candidate who comes closest to your beliefs. I'm not sure what left and right has to do with anything.

Answer 2

Right is always right...left is always wrong.
IF you have MORALS, and they dont change for individuals, to please others, or fit in or be "politically correct"...
IF you have strong convictions, religiously and personally...
IF you can say what you mean, do what you say you are going to do and defend your beliefs in the face of persecution...
IF you actually acknolwedge that human life is more valuable than say a plant or a rodents life and should be protected and respected...THIS MEANS understanding and believing that ABORTION is MURDER, the willfull killing of INNOCENT human life...NOT some tissue, blob or clot (links below) and that not only should it be illegal "doctors" performing abortions should be tried and (fingers crossed) convicted of MURDER...the word "abortion" has lost all its real meaning in the USA...thanks to Hollywood, womens lib, and Planned Parenthood...big money business, completely blood money.
IF you can make a decision about something without waiting for some celebrity to say that your opinion is also their opinion and NOT change your belief because it is more popular to do so...
IF you dont believe all the BS that TV news, commercials spewing garbage about the poor public teachers and AIDS research being done by celebrities, The New York Times, and other liberal immoral sources put out there....
THEN...and this pretty much sums it up...you would most likely be a "right wing" conservative, more than likely a Republican.
IF you have no real convictions, morals, religious beliefs, then you are a "left wing" liberal Democrat.
IF you waver on issues BASED ON popularity, fear of judgment or the easiest way out...you are a coward.

Answer 3

Your instincts about right and left are correct. The issue is not so much position-by-position voting, but the fact that most people do not think about politics in a single dimension. For example, Marxism says nothing about abortion (some former Marxist states outlawed abortion, others did not). Yet Marxism is viewed as leftist.

Most political scientists examine issues on at least two dimensions. For example, liberals in the U.S. tend to support government intervention in the economy, but hate government intervention in social issues (reproductive issues, sexual preferences issues ect). By contrast, Republicans in the U.S. tend to hate government intervention in the economy, but like government intervention in social issues. As a result, most people are really not right or left on the spectrum.

The reason that so many people use left and right as labels is that they are useful. Right and left may miss a lot, but it is good shorthand in a complicated political world.

Answer 4

Worst possible way.

First of all, many issues do not fit easily into that particular spectrum. For example, many liberals and conservatives like big govt (Democrats and NeoCons) and many liberals and conservatives oppose big govt (Libertarians).

Second, most candidates do not actually line up along a particular spectrum. They simply are the closest fit that their party chooses to endorse.

Labels are counter-productive. They cloud the actual issues and deflect from the merits of the discussion. Drop the labels.

Think independently. Vote your conscience.

Answer 5

What a rambling, nonsense question!

First, "seperation of church and state" as generally expressed these days is NOT what was intended. CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW REGARDING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION says that Congress cannot try and legislate religion. Unfortunately the American left has decided since they can't do it in Congress they will do it in the courts and they've been pretty successful about it. This goes totally against FREEDOM OF RELIGION and is totally against what was intended. Indeed many of the earliest Europeans to come here did so to escape just such religious persecution as the left is practicing today.

That is not to say that the far right should succeed either - they are just as bad as the far left and could even be compared to militant Islam followers in certain ways.

How left or right of an issue is irrelevant. You have to simply decide what you feel. Here are some hints:

ABORTION: There is PRO Abortion and ANTI Abortion. The label PRO CHOICE is a lie because two people who made a baby have already made their choice and abortion denies the developing baby (or fetus if you're too dumb to admit it's just a very young baby) it's choice, so pro abortion is NOT pro choice.

GAY MARRIAGE: Marriage has been defined forever as a union between a man and a woman. To muddle this issue gays say they are victims of discrimination but they have EXACTLY THE SAME RIGHTS AS EVERYONE ELSE. Any gay man is free to marry any woman who will have him just as any straight man is free to marry any woman who will have him. Same for women.

GUN CONTROL: It's funny that the champions of gun control like Pelosi and Boxer either have concealed carry permits or have armed guards who do. They're against guns except when it comes to them & the people around them, then they're all for them. They say that the right is a bunch of Nazis but the first thing the Nazis did to subjugate their population was enact strict gun control. And don't believe Michael Moore's lies about there being more crime here than in Canada and Europe. Criminals are bolder when they know their victims won't be armed and they are.

DEATH PENALTY: Opponents tend to be anti-religion but suddenly they get religion when they quote "THOU SHALT NOT KILL". Only problem that's not what the Bible actually says. A more correct/accurate translation states "THOU SHALT NOT MURDER WITH PREMEDITATION". God understands that society cannot be burdened with keeping those who would destroy it around. I don't like capital punishment either, but I understand why we have it.

IMMIGRATION: They say if we cut off all illegal immigration nobody will cut our lawns. I used to cut laws & I'm not an illegal immigrant! They get angry at use of the ACCURATE term "illegal immigrant", claiming it's racism. It is not. If you come here illegally, that is to say in violation of established law, you have broken the law, you are a criminal, you have come illegally. They use racist, angry arguments, telling me that my ancestors raped, pillaged and murdered to get here and stole the land from the real owners. That's before they even know how much Native American blood is in my veins. I got news for the left on immigration - EVERYONE immigrated here, this land belonged to no one, and the Native American people by and large believed that NOBODY can own the land anyway.

GLOBAL WARMING: Don't look now, but the earth has been warmer and has warmed faster many times before in history before man even walked the earth. Solar changes drive most of the climate fluctuations the earth experiences. Several different records suggest that we are overdue an ice age. Prominent scientists say that the current trends are very possibly a precursor to that overdue ice age. Yes, we need to find alternate ffuels and sources of energy. But every time we try to build a dam or put up a wind farm the environmentalists and the left oppose that too! People like GORE whine about all the carbon dioxide, but did you ever stop to think about all the carbon dioxide spewed by Gore as he jets in his PERSONAL JET around teh world or by Kerry and his fleet of SUVs? But let's put the issue of carbon dioxide in perspective. Before the industrial revolution the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was just under 300 parts per million. Now it's just under 400 parts per million. Though they say it has "doubled", this is false. IT's gone up by 1/3. But 1/3 of what? 100 parts per million is next to nothing. If I am doing the math right it's like .01%. SO this huge CO2 increase man has caused is a whole .01%!!!! The sky is falling! That's the true secret of the left - give you a false emotional argument so you won't think for yourself because there's no time - you must react and only in the way we tell you to do so! If you stop to think it will be too late! Why do you think the left always tries to use race, class or other emotional arguments instead of logic and facts? The answer to why they do ths was revealed in California by accident during a meeting of Democrats when they left a mike turned on and the media heard what they said - it is part of the left's agenda to maintain a state of crisis. If they never solve problems they can continually use them to sway voters in their direction.

TERRORISM: Since this has been the major issue of our times and it is one that the left can never win, it is critical that they ensure the right loses big on this issue. The only way this can happen is another spectacularly successful terrorist attack against the US. So the left is busy making sure terrorists are released from captivity, terrorist communications are not monitored and terrorist money transactions are not monitored or stopped. The left's only hope is to ensure we are attacked so they can blame the right for not protecting us even as they are the ones making sure we are less protected!

That's a good start on the issues - I'll leave it to others to take it further.