An interesting Right vs. Left “interview” that is closer to being a debate.
I tend to view political ideologies in the same way that I view religions in the sense that I don’t think any of them are “true.” Instead, these are collections of myths and archetypes that people use to order their own psyche, and as common bonds with which to form community with others.
I would approach political conflict in a way that was fairly similar to that of Hobbes, who was concerned about the constant warfare between rival religious sects and royal dynasties during his own time. He didn’t really believe any of these had “truth” on their side, but simply that they were contending interests struggling for power. We have a very similar situation today where various ideologies, cultural and ethnic groups, economic interests, and perspectives on contentious issues are struggling for power in a similar way, leading to the various conflicts we see in our own society. Like Hobbes before me, I really don’t care who is “right” in most of these conflicts, and doubt that anyone has “truth” (as opposed to self-interest) on their side. The Wikipedia entry on the “Left-Right political spectrum” defines the various ideological divisions in this way:
Generally, the left wing is characterized by an emphasis on “ideas such as equality, fraternity, rights, progress, reform, and internationalism,” while the right wing is characterized by an emphasis on “notions such as authority, hierarchy, order, duty, tradition, reaction and nationalism.”
Political scientists and other analysts regard the Left as including anarchists,communists, socialists and social democrats, left-libertarians, progressives, and social liberals.Movements for racial equality are also usually linked with left-wing organizations. Trade unionism is also associated with the left.
