If we’re using a linear spectrum of left to right, how far left am I? I would consider myself on the left end of politics and was thinking of joining the Green Party in the U.S.
Here are some of the things I believe in:
Homeless people should get free housing. If I were in charge, they would live in shelters or big buildings like hotels.
Rights for all!
We should make countries better for all and not just go along with whatever the politician says, specifically where I live in the United States. Real patriotism is trying to make a better, for example, United States for everyone and not just going along with whatever our President says and defending his corrupt ideas.
Climate change is a real issue that needs to be taken care of.
LGBTQ+ people deserve representation completely and everyone should be free of discrimination.
Immigration is what shapes the United States (I use a lot of American examples because that’s where I live, sorry!) and they should not be tortured, deported, discriminated against, anything. It should be a free country and the borders should be less strict.
Weapons should be banned and crime should somehow become a very rare thing to deal with.
How far left am I?
You are possibly not left at all, for every single one of the issues you list in your post is also promoted by established right-wing parties.
Homeless people should get free housing.
Danish right-wing populist party Dansk Folkeparti explicitly support that:
https://danskfolkeparti.dk/holdninger/socialpolitik/
Rights for all!
Most political parties of all kinds agree on this, they just don’t agree on what it actually means.
Climate change is a real issue that needs to be taken care of.
Swedish right-wing populist party Sverigedemokraterna explicitly support that:
https://www.sd.se/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/sverigedemokraternas-valplattform-2022-april.pdf
LGBTQ+ people deserve representation completely and everyone should be free of discrimination.
German right-wing populist party Alternative für Deutschland is led by a lesbian who calls her party “the only real protective force for gays and lesbians in Germany”:
Immigration is what shapes the United States (I use a lot of American examples because that’s where I live, sorry!) and they should not be tortured, deported, discriminated against, anything. It should be a free country and the borders should be less strict.
That’s a bit too US-specific for any other parties to have positions on your statement exactly, but in general most parties of all kinds in democratic countries are explicitly against torture and discrimination, including those who want strictly regulated immigration. Very few parties anywhere want no immigration at all, most just want it more strictly regulated.
Weapons should be banned and crime should somehow become a very rare thing to deal with.
Weapons as in the US is exceedingly rare outside of the US, and pretty much every right-wing party ever is strongly against crime.
So, just based on these issues, maybe you aren’t actually left at all.
For american standards, you’re basically a commie, lol
For the rest of the world, you would be center-left.
The thing that would push you farther to the left or back to the center would be economic issues: you’ve only talked about social issues, but what about the economy and government?
- Should the government play a big part in regulating businesses?
- Should people pay more taxes, especially if they are rich?
- Should essential services such as roads, electricity, water, postal services, healthcare and public transportation be provided and managed by the government or by private businesses?
There are also some test online that place you on the political spectrum by asking you those kinds of questions, it might be worth checking them out.
OTOH, I kinda feel bad because you live in a place where there are only effectively 2 parties (right and far right), and chosing another one is going to waste your vote essentially. People like Sanders and AOC have a huge following, but they have no chance of success imho
Contrary to how we use the terms in common dialogue, and as shorthand (I am guilty of this as well), treating ideology as a spectrum leads to problematic understandings of ideology. Everything you just said, I agree with (generally, at least, I’m against patriotism and nationalism in imperialist countries like the US, as well as myself generally being for armed revolution), but I also believe that we should transition economically to socialism, ie an economy where public ownership is the principle aspect of the economy, not private. A social democrat may also agree with everything you said, but they would answer the opposite, ie that private ownership should be principle. I would be considered “far-left” while the social democrat would be “center-right,” but both of us can agree with you 100% on what you’ve listed.
I’m a Marxist-Leninist, I agree with Marx’s analysis of capitalism and advancements on scientific socialism and dialectical and historical materialism, as well as with Lenin’s advancements on analyzing how capitalism turns to imperialism over time, and on organizational structure and practice. If you want, I wrote an introductory Marxist-Leninist reading list, that might help you learn some more about what I am talking about.
Essentially, though, you’re progressive socially, but where you stand economically is pretty unknown, so we can’t really tell where you “fit in,” and even then terms like left vs right are complicated beyond being for socialism vs capitalism. Trying to compare, say, an anarchist and an ML on how “left” we are is silly, in my opinion, it isn’t a contest nor is that an accurate way to compare ideologies. Same with comparing capitalist ideologies.
Have you traveled outside of America before and do you have a passport?
Most of what you describe isn’t politics, it’s wishful thinking. Real solutions require trade-offs, not just good intentions. Ideals are nice, but policies need to work in the real world. Free housing means someone has to pay for it, usually through higher taxes on those who already work. Open borders sound humane until welfare systems and housing markets collapse under the pressure. Banning weapons doesn’t erase crime; it just shifts who’s armed and who isn’t. Even here in Europe, where these ideas are often praised, we’re starting to see the strain of too many entitlements and too few taxpayers.
Those are far too generic of things to place you on the spectrum more than, “not a conservative fuckwad that doesn’t care about others”, which itself is a huge spectrum.
As Cowbee said, a lot of the differentiation on the left is economic prescription, and your plan for how to bring that prescription in to reality. Most all of the left is socially progressive and accepts others, so that’s not differentiating much.
As seen by most people: centre-left to left-wing.
As seen by rabid Republicans: far-left, antifa thugs, etc. (But then again, Trumpists aren’t normal people, though they once weren’t as radicalised.)
I don’t think it’s helpful to think in terms of left and right. That presumes that each side is roughly a mirror analogue of the other.
Think in terms of forward and backward. Will your ideas and political leanings push society forward? Will you be making the world better than you found it? Or are you trying to resist change, fighting against progress because the status quo, or the recent past, benefits you in some way?
Will your ideas and political leanings push society forward? Will you be making the world better than you found it? Or are you trying to resist change, fighting against progress because the status quo, or the recent past, benefits you in some way?
Strictly speaking, forwards and backwards can only be applied if one has both awareness and a realistic plan to help change the larger situation.
That’s better than thinking in terms of rigid spectrums, but I still ultimately think the division between socialism and capitalism is useful, ie the PRC is socialist, therefore left while the US Empire is capitalist, therefore right. Progressing forward requires socialism, but beyond that we can get lost in trying to compare how “left” people are as though that genuinely corresponds to material reality in a quantifiable manner. People don’t exist on a rigid spectrum, but generally correspond to different ideologies or parties with consistent policies or viewpoints.
Insofar as “left” and “right” are really a thing they’re just about whether or not you support monarchy or authoritarianism (right-wing) or democracy (left-wing). What you’ve said are cultural things that don’t really map to that very well.
Normally left and right are about socialism vs capitalism, and all states are “authoritarian,” including socialist democracies, in that all states are the political arm of the ruling class, be that class capitalists or workers. A socialist state is “authoritarian” against capitalists, while being democratic for the working class, and left-wing. Until we erase the basis for the state, ie until we collectivize production so as to erase class, there will be a state and thus “authoritarianism,” so it’s better for the working class to be in charge.
