Monday, March 9, 2009

Left vs. Right?

I question the importance and accuracy of the the left/right dichotomy. It is nothing more than divisional semantics. After all, almost all of us have nearly perfectly symmetrical bodies, and all geographical spaces, much more often than not, allow us and even require us to move in all directions. Team sports have symmetrical field alignments, and if we were standing face to face your left would be my right.

The English language is biased in that the word right also means correct and that the word sinister means pertaining to the left but it also means evil. On the other hand, in Christian mythology, when Jesus died and arose to heaven, he went to sit at the right hand of the Father, thus implying that the higher power, the more knowledgeable and wise, sits to the left.

Thank you for giving a brief overview concerning Proudhons thought and works. I tried reading some of his works a few years ago, but was unsuccessful at gleaning much because of the nature of the writing, being translations, and being from a much earlier period. (The latter being a large part, perhaps, of why I don't enjoy reading Shakespeare).

Mutualism was not "created" by Proudhon, but he did refine the concept. It would be interesting to know the exceptions that Marx took to Proudhon and why, and vice-versa (if such is the case), but I fear that for the same reasons that I did not understand Proudhon's writings, I would not understand Marx's "Treatise on the Works of Proudhon". Probably, at least part of the reason for the disagreement was that Marx advocated State Communism.

Some have pointed out that there are some similarities (and although I hate labels) between "Right Wing Libertarians" and "Left Wing Anarchists". Both detest the absurdity and abuses of the State(s), for example

To get to consensus among the anti-statists, we must understand that some Libertarians are small property-holders and some are very large property-holders. I believe the former could be brought into the fold if they understood and accepted and we understood and accepted the inclusion of such in a Socialist economy (as Proudhon advocated).

The large property holders will resist, obfuscate, divide and conquer, etc. The "left wing" that favors big government will do the same.

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