Mr. Beat and Mr. Barris explain political spectrums and why the whole left versus right paradigm does more harm than good.
Be sure to subscribe to This is Barris! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfveSKkxngPNNHLoDhqjaOg
Thanks again to Mr. Barris for helping me make this video!
Have an idea for a video Mr. Beat should do? Your idea gets picked when you donate on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/iammrbeat
Donate on Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/mrbeat
Buy Mr. Beat T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.: https://sfsf.shop/support-mrbeat/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mrbeat/
Mr. Beat's band: http://electricneedleroom.net/
Mr. Beat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/beatmastermatt
Mr. Beat on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iammrbeat/
Mr. Beat on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iammrbeat/
Mr. Beat's Discord server: https://discord.gg/waK44fH
Produced by Matt Beat. All images by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Music by Electric Needle Room (Mr. Beat's band).
Electric Needle Room's new children's album, "Just Kidding Around:"
Bandcamp: https://tinyurl.com/yyf65v47
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/y5ayqjhn
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y374maup
Apple: https://tinyurl.com/y6rjckls
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y5ukdrnf
#politics #leftwing #rightwing
Sources/further reading:
https://time.com/5673239/left-right-politics-origins/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/06/the-left-right-political-spectrum-is-bogus/373139/
https://unionwatch.org/avoiding-the-oversimplifications-of-right-wing-vs-left-wing/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_spectrum
http://www.rationalrevolution.net/articles/redefining_the_political_spectru.htm
https://www.politicalcompass.org/
What do people mean when they say that they are “right wing” or “left wing” or on The Right or The Left? Well, the whole left vs. right political spectrum started during the French Revolution. For more about this, I’m going to send you to Barris, from the channel This is Barris! So HERE is Barris.
Thank you for having me over Mr. Beat! To discover the origins of the left v right paradigm, one must go as far as 1789 with the creation of the National Constituent Assembly, whose main task was to create a constitution. Now, while France is proudly republican today and any trace of royalty has long been guillotined away, that wasn’t always the case and a large portion of the population supported the King, or at least those who represented that population. As such when on November 11th, 1789, the assembly had to vote on whether the constitution would grant the King an absolute veto or a partial veto, those who favored an absolute veto were asked to sit on the right of the President of the Assembly and those who favored a partial veto, which was the more radical position, were asked to sit on the President of the Assembly. This wasn’t done symbolically but… to make the vote count easier for the President of the Assembly who felt a bit overwhelmed by the 1,500 deputies. And just like that, France started this idea of change vs tradition, of liberalism vs conservatism which still shapes the political landscape to this day!
It would take another century before the left vs right spectrum became popular outside of France. In the beginning of the 20th century, as revolutions were sprouting across the world, the press and academics needed a quick way to categorize the different ideologies that were fighting each other, especially as these ideologies, both left and right, became increasingly radical. For example, the Bolsheviks, who loved anything related to the French revolution, immediately embraced the leftwing v rightwing spectrum but used themselves as the center. In England, however, it took longer to become popular and books only started referencing it in the late 1920s. Adoption in the US was just as slow but eventually, as partisanship increased in the 1960s during the civil rights movement, the idea of a left vs right political spectrum cemented along the beliefs of both parties.
Well, often the political spectrum looks something like this. On the left side of politics, you tend to see ideas like liberty, equality (aka egalitarianism), progress, and internationalism. On the right side of politics, you tend to see ideas like authority, hierarchy, tradition, and nationalism. On the left, you often see reform, while on the right, you often see reaction. Those on the left tend to want MORE government involvement to make society better. They want it more top down, while those on the right tend to want LESS government involvement to make society better. They want it bottom up. Ideas on the left are often called “liberal” and ideas on the right are often called “conservative.”
Mr. Beat：我是Mr. Beat 一起來看人談論政治， 好吧？ Secular Talk(一檔政治清談節目)主持：...Charlie Kirk 和 Candace Owens 右翼名流兩位 上了Fox News(美國一個大型傾右新聞台) 而他們就把我生來聽到最陳腔濫調的右翼言論通通吐出來... PragerU(美國一個傾右YouTube頻道)講者：...他們日復日，噴出低質的左翼宣傳... Stanford：...而那些人不多不少都被右翼、 左翼冷落。 TED講者：在右翼， 保守派，他們總談賦稅、 規管、大政府； 在左翼，自由主義者論道經濟， 說現今貧富懸殊，對吧？ TEDx Talks講者：現今左派右派之間的鴻溝， 其實和我們生命其他階段時一樣嚴重。 Mr. Beat：不知您察不察覺，反正我覺得這群人對「左翼」、「右翼」的定義都不同。 他們口中左翼右翼，又指甚麼呢？ 其實，帶來左對右的那幅政治光譜， 源於法國大革命， 也不算很久以前。 要知道更多的話，我邀請了來自This is Barris頻道的Mr. Barris! 他就來細說兩項用詞的歷史，事不宜遲，請說吧Barris.
Mr. Barris：Mr. Beat, 多謝您邀請我！ 要清楚左翼對右翼格局的起源，需溯回西元1789，剛成立來起草憲法的國民制憲議會。 雖然現今法國民眾堅守共和體制，王國殘餘早掃得一乾二淨， 當年法國相當大部分民眾----至少，大部分代表，都擁護國王。 所以到了1789年11月11日，議會需要為國王應擁有絕對否決權還是有限否決權一項重大抉擇投票。 大會當時請贊同絕對否決權的坐大會主席的右邊，贊同有限否決權(即更偏激政見)的坐左邊。 這舉動本無象徵意義，只是為了方便點算整整1500位代表的票而已。 就那樣，法國首創了政治上變革與傳統，自由與保守的分別，直至今天還在影響我們政治環境的一項發明。 後來幾月，代表們不是為政見，而是為現實考慮才分坐，正如Baron de Gauville(一位代表)所說， "我們開始辨認彼此：那些忠君忠教的便坐右翼，免得與對面叫囂聲混淆。" 況且，翼內同志們政見也不算一致----世人常忘記法國大革命一開始也是資產革命。 資產家比較開放於共和主義，能被人看作左翼。 然而大多數資產家支持自由市場和傳統定義上的自由主義， 也因此，當Gracchus Babeuf
一類雛形共產主義者也被看作左翼，對面因而獲得國王的支持，相信您也感到其中不甘吧？ 左與右的對立，要等一世紀才在法國以外普及。 二十世紀初，世界上革命事業星火燎原之勢，政見分歧日益激進，傳媒、學者都需要能籠統概括政向的字眼。 就像布爾塞維克(俄國十月革命發動派系)，酷愛法國大革命，也沒有抗拒左、右的標籤。 雖然，他們覺得自己不偏不倚。 這概念傳至英國卻要更長時間普及，到20年代後旬才見有書籍使用。 美國也一樣緩慢採用，到了60年代美國人民權運動吸引更多人參加政黨，左對右的光譜才在政壇上牢牢扎根。 該說的都說完了，Mr. Beat. 那就是由一個議會主席為了方便點數而出的點子， 衍生成讓後輩前輩互相辱罵的系統，一條曲折的的道路。 Mr. Beat：謝謝您了，Mr. Barris. 說完過往，現在又如何？ 普傳的政治光譜往往長得像這樣： 往左，您會看見自由、平等、創新、國際主義這些概念； 往右則會推崇權威、階級、傳統、民族主義一類思想。 左翼想推行變革，右翼則固守反動。 左派傾向增加政府的權力、義務來改善社會，讓國家系統由上而下。 而右派希望減少政府在社會的作用，讓國家系統由下而上。 左派思
想常被概括為「自由主義」，右派則概括為「保守主義」。 當然，這樣分類多是以偏概全，所以這政治光譜大概胡說八道。 很少人真能完全符合一邊的條件，譬如一個人可能不信任政府，卻對民族主義、階級也予以憎恨。 而民眾往往被扣上「中間派」這頂帽子， 只因對政策的看法在兩極之間。大家找個更準確的政治光譜，好吧？ 漂亮。這又甚麼回事？ 此政治光譜是由50年代一位名Hans Eysenck的心理學家創作的。 他發覺標為極右的納粹主義與標為極左的共產獨裁者恰恰有共同點。 於是，他在光譜裡畫上兩條軸：橫放的R軸代表激進度，直放的T軸代表威權度。. 當然，Eysenck的模型也受批評。 尤其另一名心理學家Milton Rokeach認為左與右的分別是對平等的重視。 Eysenck隨即更改其圖表，增加一條S軸以示經濟理念。 就這段期間，一名自由意志主義者David Nolan創作了名為Nolan Chart的政治光譜，從個人自由度與經濟自由度測量政向。 那就是Nolan在自己光譜的位置了， 而現在自由意志主義的群組裡，他的光譜仍然廣泛使用。 Vosem chart就是有三條軸心的Nolan chart, 看起來
複雜了些吧。 另一幅政治光譜就是Jerry Pournelle創造的Pournelle chart. 一條軸代表對政府，也就是邦國的態度， 另一軸則是對社會進步的態度。 等等，「社會進步」又如何定義？ 往來政治光譜不計其數，向這個、這個、又那個... 問題在於大家總不能為最優秀的圖表達成共識。 大多數爭拗圍繞著那些軸心，也就是那些範疇，該出現圖表上。 欸，原來axis(軸心)的眾數是axes? 這麼奇怪？ 回歸正題，製表者可能增加獨立度、政教分合度、國際干涉度、國際合作度、全球貿易度，好武度、集權度... 真的太多度了。相信大家所有軸心上都坐落兩極中間的某處。 那宏觀來講，您政向又坐落何處？(對呀少年，我是說你。) 我認為，其實因事而異。 政見政向不是固定的，您很可能不斷在光譜上浮動。這不是壞事，證明您思想開明。 要是您希望一時知曉自己政向站哪兒，我個人建議上the Political Compass測試。 它設計不完美，要想對自己政治傾向有初步認知卻也足夠準確。 要像知道哪位政治家更符合自己政向，上Isidewith.com也不賴。 但把人標作右翼左翼，一類20年代才在美國出現的稱呼
，恐怕過度簡化別人吧。 要是人家說起「左派」、「右派」、「左翼」、「右翼」的話，不如問問他們，口中那詞語，究竟指甚麼？ 很有可能，不同人對此問題也見仁見智。 我覺得「左」、「右」這些標籤 造成的損害多於帶來的便利。 也許是時候淘汰它們了。 Mr. Barris,依您卓見，該當如何呢？ Mr. Barris：當然要消除，畢竟根據本意，不是可恨的保皇派，我們大家皆是「左翼」...欸，Mr. Beat, 你該不會是保皇餘孽吧？ Mr. Beat：那就好。Mr. Barris， 多謝您的分享！ 大家謹記遊覽他的頻道This is Barris!，一個獨播有關法國歷史的頻道， 而且是學習法國歷史一個絕佳的資源。 觀眾朋友們，你們對政治色譜又有甚麼看法呢？ 有沒有優質準確的政治色譜呢？ 我剛介紹的Political Compass測試你們喜歡嗎？ 請你們在下方評論區讓我知道吧。謝謝觀賞！
Comments
Is it time to get rid of the terms "left wing" and "right wing?"
left wing : nope right wing : nah chicken wing : yessir
Remember: No matter which "side" your on when the people representing your side do bad things, you still need to stand up against them.
I prefer to play centre forward but I can sometimes score goals from the right wing
I appreciate the effort in the editing you had my attention the whole time, lots to learn from just the way to put the videos together
I like the 8 axes test mostly because it is still reasonably small (I've seen one with almost 100) and from it, you can guess someone's position pretty accurately on most topics. I think those are the two defining features of a good theory, succinct and predictive.
I really like that you included sources & further reading. 👍
Republican Party: Nope Democrat Party: Nope Birthday Party: Yes
you really are a good teacher. You explain things that I've been trying to understand. It's very appreciated.
This was really cool. A good presentation with just the right amount of silly-to-smart "factor". Unbiased and covering things both modern and historically. Thank you for your video.
This is funny and at the same time informative. I've learnt quiet a lot and being able to go with the knowledge I was seeking. Thanks for your great effort.
Binging Mr. Beat videos on this stormy evening! Great video!
Thank you this is so true. Time to learn from each other regardless of sides.
See, this is just an example of why the world needs more charts. PS - Beard's looking good.
Fantastic. Thank you Mr. Beat.
Like he said,most are somewhere in the middle. Left and Right terms used to divide us. The old "divide and conquer " strategy.
I personally like the dichotomy of 'selectorate theory' where a position of power or decision-making is based on how much support is needed to enact that power; broad or narrow support, which is respectively about aligning interest with more people or less people. The more people you need, the more your policy needs to satisfy more universal needs; the less people you need, then you need only satisfy those few people and the more you can ignore the rest.
I always thought cultural values, economic values and opinions on state control were the most important because those are the issues most political debates use as general talking points.
8:16 The plural of "axe" (pronounced like 'AKS') is "axes" (pronounced like 'AK-siz'). The plural of "axis" (pronounced like 'AK-sis') is "axes" (pronounced like 'AK-seez'). Both plurals are spelled the same, but they are pronounced differently, specifically in the second syllable.
Not to sound controversial but I’m actually for the buffalo wing 😬