The left and right ends of the political spectrum describe people's basic philosophy of government.
Most people think of Democrats of being left center and liberals comfortably in the left and Socialists at the extreme left.
On the right side, Republicans would be near the center, Conservatives comfortable in the right and libetarians at the far right.
The right tends to favor policies in which the role of the government is extremely limited, especially when it comes to promoting the general welfare of the populous, but at the same time spending adequate resources for the common defense of the nation such as the military and the enforcement of international trade agreements. Some issues that the Right traditionally cares about are:
- Minimize Taxes
- Minimize Social Welfare Programs (Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare)
- Minimize Regulations on Business and Individuals
- Elimination of Wealth Redistribution policies such as Progressive Taxation, Asset Based Taxation, and Taxation on Income gained through investment or inheritance.
- Minimize ability of citizens to sue the government or corporations, or other individuals based on laws designed to protect the environment, consumers, workers, women, minorities, etc....
Recently, the Right has embraced other non traditional issues such as:
- Increased government regulation of Abortion
- Increased government regulation of End of Life decisions
- Increased government regulation of Drug Usage
- Increased Government funding of Christian religious groups, symbols and priorities.
- Increased Government regulation of sexual pratices, indecent speech, homosexuality and unpatriotic behavior.
- Decreased regulation of weapon ownership.
- Support for public execution of certain criminals.
- Reduction of constitutional gaurantees for accused criminals (Victims Rights)
The left tends to favor a stronger government with policies which benefit the general population at the expense of those in positions of power. People on the left tend to believe that the government's primary function is to provide for the general welfare of its citizens paid for by taxing the populous. Some issues that the left traditionally cares about are:
- Generous funding of Social Programs (Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare)
- A progressive tax system which taxes wealthy individuals at a higher rate and taxes income earned by means other than work (Profits, Investment, Inheritence) higher than work income.
- Increased government regulation of employers, polluters, manufacturers, and individuals in the interests of protecting the populous
- Protecting Certain Freedoms such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to privacy, voting rights, rights of the accused, etc....
Recently, the Left has embraced other non traditional issues such as:
- Legalization of Abortion
- Affirmative Action
- Increased regulation of weapon Ownership
- Less strict Immigration laws
- Opposition of certain wars
- Separation of Church and State