What exactly is 'Left' wing and 'Right' wing?

Albion said:

It was Lincoln we were discussing.

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Yeah, I kind of noticed. But I like to point out that Lincoln's primary motive was to preserve the Union, not to destroy the Suthron Way of Life out of envious jealousy by taking away their slaves. (I like that line, too. Came across it in some Bob Jones U. Christian homeschooling materials about the Civil War.)

That's nice, but it was Pommer I was replying to.

Albion said:

That's nice, but it was Pommer I was replying to.

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This is an open forum--anyone can post at any time. They don't need your permission.

Speedwell said:

This is an open forum--anyone can post at any time. They don't need your permission.

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That's very true and I've never suggested anything to the contrary. And now...back to the discussion of the meaning of "Right" and "Left"

Was the OP really interested in a discussion of politics at the time of Lincoln?
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In 21st Century US Politics (this board I think), the words have meanings that are current and consistent at least since VP Hubert Humphry (left = liberal) and President Reagan (right = conservative).
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The terms "Far left" and "far right" are in somewhat more dispute, usually defined by opponents to their view. Personally, I consider the progressives and social-Democrats to be far left in the framework of US politics.

On the right, I have serious problems of definition. Yes, there are the far right populists who have control. And yes, there are the far right conservatives who still exist (in small numbers).

A discussion of left and right without discussing Communism or Socialism! In Europe Liberal parties tend to be centre-right or right wing. I think this is a case of being divided by a common language.

The Left in the UK have favoured such concepts such as the common ownership of industry, redistribution of wealth through progressive taxation, strong social services paid for out of universal national insurance contributions, a health service free at the point of need.

Most of these have come to pass to some degree, though some have been undermined by Conservative governments. Broadly speaking left and right can be determined by the attitudes to these concepts.

Whyayeman said:

A discussion of left and right without discussing Communism or Socialism! In Europe Liberal parties tend to be centre-right or right wing. I think this is a case of being divided by a common language.

The Left in the UK have favoured such concepts such as the common ownership of industry, redistribution of wealth through progressive taxation, strong social services paid for out of universal national insurance contributions, a health service free at the point of need.

Most of these have come to pass to some degree, though some have been undermined by Conservative governments. Broadly speaking left and right can be determined by the attitudes to these concepts.

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Here we have added a religious dimension to it, which complicates matters.

CatsRule2020 said:

We hear it and read about it all the time. Just who exactly are these speakers and writers referring to? How can they tell if a person is 'Left' wing or 'Rights wing?

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My view of left and right,
Is that the left tend to cater to the employees and those on hard times, the right tend to cater to business owners and the wealthy.

The left try to have a safety net to provide the essentials of life e.g. housing, clothes, food, schools, medical care, minimum wage, and employee rights, tenant rights etc. The view there is that companies tend to have all the power because of their money and tend to screw over the poor. Poor need a way out of poverty, need to survive, but also need to get quality education and have opportunities.

The right tend to want to encourage businesses to start up and grow, giving tax breaks, and power over their employees or tenants. The view there is that if you have thriving businesses then you have jobs and thriving economy. They are weary of giving money away to the poor, think it creates dependencies and disincentives to work, and are weary of unions as they think it stifles business and economic growth.

Speedwell said:

Here we have added a religious dimension to it, which complicates matters.

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In Europe there have often been strong links between the churches and socialist thinking, so there are complications here too.

I see the religious right in the USA gaining influence with the Republican Party, of course. It looked to me that conservative Christians intended to gain control in order to foster a particular policy - to change the law on abortion. All other considerations were subservient to that.

That is why they ignored or accepted the deeply irreligious aspects of leading Republicans' conduct. For them the end justified the means, a philosophy which has always seemed to me to be antithetical to Christianity.

CatsRule2020 said:

Would the Chinese government be considered Left or Right winged? Would Russia's government be considered Left or Right winged?

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Internally or as viewed from the USA?

CatsRule2020 said:

Would the Chinese government be considered Left or Right winged?

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Left

Would Russia's government be considered Left or Right winged?

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Hard to classify Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union.

CatsRule2020 said:

Would the Chinese government be considered Left or Right winged? Would Russia's government be considered Left or Right winged?

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Going by this Wiki page.
Socialist market economy - Wikipedia

China consider themselves socialist market economy (SME)

But the West consider China to be a form of state capitalism.

Whyayeman said:

In Europe Liberal parties tend to be centre-right or right wing.

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In the UK, ideology of the Liberal Democrats is "social liberalism." This is center-left.

Why do you say that in Europe Liberal parties tend to be centre-right or right wing?

Andrewn said:

In the UK, ideology of the Liberal Democrats is "social liberalism." This is center-left.

Why do you say that in Europe Liberal parties tend to be centre-right or right wing?

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You're right about this, and I think the reason our friend picked up the idea that the situation is actually the reverse may be because of focusing on only a single (or perhaps several) very controversial policy matters of recent years.

They're meaningless terms in today's climate. It's really populism vs neoliberalism. Left and right are played up to keep the populists distracted and fighting amongst themselves.

A mainstream establishment Republican has more in common with the standard Democratic politician than he does with a populist Republican.

Speedwell said:

Quite a few liberals involved in that at the time.

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I am sure there were.

CatsRule2020 said:

I used to think that Left wing means they do not prohibit much change and Right wing meant that they do prohibit change.

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There's a shred of truth in that view. The Left has historically been in favor of changing a wide range of social norms, often violently and often rashly. The Left is inclined to buy into theories rather than that which has already proven itself in contrast to what has not.

The Right, by contrast, has held to the attitude that is sometimes described as "keeping those values and policies which have been successful and workable while also making change prudently and only where it's needed."

So there is a valid point to what you used to think defines the two sides, so long as it's defined correctly, but even so that's only a small part of what defines them, what each wants to accomplish, and how they'd go about it.

CatsRule2020 said:

I used to think that Left wing means they do not prohibit much change and Right wing meant that they do prohibit change.

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Yes, this is why the right wing are called conservatives and the left wing are called progressives.