Thursday, December 06, 2012

Quote of the Day: Axes to Grind

From some useful thoughts on civil discourse and trying to see where the other person is coming from:
My hypothesis is that progressives, conservatives, and libertarians view politics along three different axes. For progressives, the main axis has oppressors at one end and the oppressed at the other. For conservatives, the main axis has civilization at one end and barbarism at the other. For libertarians, the main axis has coercion at one end and free choice at the other.
Of course, these are just guidelines. I'm inclined to see coercion in its most flagrant forms as a kind of barbarism.

1 comment:

Eric said...

"For progressives, the main axis has oppressors at one end and the oppressed at the other. For conservatives, the main axis has civilization at one end and barbarism at the other."

This is an interesting statement on the evolution or perhaps manipulation of popular political terminology. The civilization/barbarism axis matches the classic definition of progressive. The oppressor/oppressed axis matches the Marxist or the broader leftist.