Left wing beliefs are usually progressive in nature, they look to the future, aim to support those who cannot support themselves, are idealist and believe in equality. People who are left wing believe in taxation to redistribute opportunity and wealth – things like a national health service, and job seeker’s allowance are fundamentally left wing ideas. They believe in equality over the freedom to fail.
Right wing beliefs value tradition, they are about equity, survival of the fittest, and they believe in economic freedom. They typically believe that business shouldn’t be regulated, and that we should all look after ourselves. Right wing people tend believe they shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s education or health service. They believe in freedom to succeed over equality.
Based on this, I’m firmly in the left wing camp. Which means that some self-styled politicos are either talking shite or both this web site and Wikipedia are wrong.
Obviously this is reductionist. I’ve said before that I’m socially liberal, fiscally conservative (as opposed to ‘tory’) and economically progressive. That means I think everyone should be treated equally and the laws of the land should reflect the will of the people,. It means we need to be careful how we spend our money but it also means ensuring that everyone has enough to live on with adequate healthcare so they can enjoy it, otherwise it’s not a society you’re maintaining). It means we need to think outside the box when designing how our wee province will thrive and this means taking some bold steps in productivity and creating opportunity
I feel I need to write my 95 theses.