A Guide to Basic Differences Between Left and Right
JANUARY 17, 2017 BY DENNIS PRAGER
Originally published on this site
Source of Human Rights
Left: government
Right: the Creator
Human Nature
Left: basically good (Therefore, society is primarily responsible for evil.)
Right: not basically good (Therefore, the individual is primarily responsible for evil.)
Economic Goal
Left: equality
Right: prosperity
Primary Role of the State
Left: increase and protect equality
Right: increase and protect liberty
Government
Left: as large as possible
Right: as small as possible
Family Ideal
Left: any loving unit of people
Right: a married father and mother, and children
Guiding Trinity
Left: race, gender and class
Right: liberty, In God We Trust and e pluribus unum
Good and Evil
Left: relative to individual and/or society
Right: based on universal absolutes
Humanity’s Primary Division(s)
Left: rich and poor; strong and weak
Right: good and evil
Ideal Primary Identity of an American
Left: world citizen
Right: American citizen
How to Make a Good Society
Left: abolish inequality
Right: develop each citizen’s moral character
View of America
Left: profoundly morally flawed; inferior to any number of European countries
Right: greatest force for good among nations in world history
Gender
Left: a social construct
Right: male and female
Most Important Trait to Cultivate in a Child
Left: self-esteem
Right: self-control
Worth of the Human Fetus
Left: determined by the mother
Right: determined by society rooted in Judeo-Christian values
Primary Source of Crime
Left: poverty, racism and other societal flaws
Right: the criminal’s malfunctioning conscience
Place of God and Religion in America
Left: secular government and secular society
Right: secular government and religious society
American Exceptionalism
Left: chauvinistic doctrine
Right: historical reality
Greatest Threat to the World
Left: environmental catastrophe (currently global warming)
Right: evil (currently radical Islamist violence)
International Ideal
Left: world governed by the United Nations, and no single country is dominant
Right: world in which America is the single strongest entity
Primary Reason for Lack of Peace in Middle East
Left: Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Right: Palestinian, Arab and Muslim denial of Jewish state’s right to exist
Purpose of Art
Left: challenge status quo and bourgeois sensibilities
Right: produce works of beauty and profundity to elevate the individual and society
Guns
Left: ideally universally abolished, except for use by police, the armed forces and registered sportsmen
Right: ideally widely owned by responsible individuals for self-protection and the protection of others
Race
Left: intrinsically significant
Right: intrinsically insignificant
Racial, Ethnic and Gender Diversity at Universities
Left: most important
Right: far less important than ideological diversity
Black America’s Primary Problem
Left: racism
Right: lack of fathers
Greatest Playwright
Left: entirely subjective; there is no greatest playwright
Right: Shakespeare
War
Left: not the answer
Right: sometimes the only answer
Hate
Left: wrong, except when directed at the political
Right: wrong, except when directed at evil
Cultures
Left: all equal
Right: some are better than others
America’s Founding Fathers
Left: rich white male slave owners
Right: great men who founded the greatest society
Purpose of Judges
Left: pursue social justice
Right: pursue justice
National Borders
Left: a relic of the past
Right: indispensable for national survival
View of Illegal Immigrants
Left: welcomed guests
Right: illegal immigrants
Nature
Left: intrinsically valuable
Right: made for man