Why are left-wing policies generally more popular than right-wing policies?

[BlueOak]

11 hours ago, Chadders said:

@Hardkill are they though? I’m not so sure because if they were why do we not see progressive leaders in america? 

Most people are conservatively minded ergo prefer more conservative aligned policies such as tougher sentences on crime, or fiscal conservatism. They’re sold the bullshit idea that fiscal conservatism means cutting social security whilst cutting taxes for the rich 

The more pro-capitalist parties were a better fit for America's corporate structure. The corporate structure chooses which leaders have successful campaigns. Its really that simple in America, and most of the world that have a strong capitalist foundation. You are correct that the people are the system also, and they lean authoritarian now much more than at any time in my lifetime. Socialism is demonized, and libertarianism is mocked, which means people cut off half of their realities and try to build on what's left: capitalism and authoritarianism. 

I agree people are sold the lie that cutting taxes for the rich benefits them. It'd be funny to watch the same old thing trotted out every time, if it didn't constantly cost me my quality of life feeding my money to billionaires so they can have another yacht, sports car, or their fifth luxury home. Plus now I have to deal with people cutting immigration, while complaining they are in poverty, reducing the number of workers to increase the age gap and put themselves further in poverty, so they can then blame immigrants!

Although both leaders are corporate enough to be tolerated. Now I would say the Democrats are better for stability in business, now Joe and his aging mental state is retiring. Trump is way too unpredictable toward whatever whim is going on next, or whoever talks to him nicely, which is exploitable by anyone with half a brain, but stacks like a Jenga pile about to tip over. I would think if this was a more stable Republican, without all the legal troubles and rabble-rousing, you'd see a clearer rightwing victory. This is incidentally who he's trying to portray himself as now, but you can't change a lifelong image in a few months even with people's 5-minute attention spans. The internet always brings back old videos, images, speeches and controversies etc.
 

Edited August 23 by BlueOak

[Karmadhi]

On 13/08/2024 at 0:15 AM, Hardkill said:

So, then why have left-wing policies been more popular than right-wing policies for many years?

They are not lol.

If they were, then they would always win.

It is crazy to me how much people are willing to not vote for policies that serve them.

[Consept]

Left policies generally aim to help more people overall. Right focuses more on individual success. 

As people become more conscious and move to healthy orange and above I think they will go more left. This is evident in terms of when people get more educated, more aware, they tend to go more left. 

At their core, right is more about fear, they want to conserve things and don't want things to change. Left is more hopeful and idealistic that change can bring a better outcome. Now to be sure, there are excesses and pitfalls of both sides, too much change too quickly could definitely disrupt society. Or regressing to a romanticised past can also mess up progress. 

So I think what we're seeing is a shift to the left because of increased consciousness level, however this is nothing new. The right today would probably seem left 60 years ago to the right at that time. So these polarities are not static, they continue moving left over time. Provably the left of today will be the conservatives of tomorrow. 

[ICURBlessings]

I see the fundamental differences between the Right and the Left in relation to the arrow of Time.

How Time moves forward in one direction is something more than just Natural, it was that way long before our very Galaxy was formed. It is fundamental to the entire process of evolution, no matter were your start - from the Big Bang or  3.7 billion years ago (first signs of life on Earth).

We human are part of that process of evolution that has been going on at least since the Big Bang. So to fight that process, that movement is like a little fish fighting/resisting the current of a colossal river.

The Right are those that choose to Resist, to turn themselves in the opposite direction than the arrow of Time, that is why they are more 'fear-base' - because their fight is ultimately a loss cause.

The Left are those who are pointing their nose in the same direction than the arrow of Time, they try to figure out how to swim with the current, how to harmonize with a Force that is much. much greater than themselves!

[Basman]

Because left-wing policies tend to benefit common people more with wealth redistribution policies and proactively finding solution to societal problems. "Free healthcare"? why not, right?

The reason why people vote right-wing anyway is because policy doesn't matter when it comes to voting. People vote largely emotionally, based on their culture and values. Who your friends are going to vote for is probably the best predictor of who you are going to vote for. And to be fair, it is very difficult to be well read on politics. It is why we have a representative democracy as opposed to a direct democracy in most cases. Most people just don't have the time or interest.

The right also has an advantage when it comes to messaging as they can shamelessly appeal to fear, insecurity and cultural norms whereas the left tends to offer changes to society and culture, which require more legwork to sell. It is easy for the right to demonize left-wing policy as destroying the country, etc. And to be fair, there is often an essential destruction. Immigration for example changes culture, destroying the culture of the past. The right tends to exaggerate and discount advantages however. Whenever the left makes mistakes, its like pouring oil on a fire for the right. But most of the mistakes the left makes in my opinion are not messaging well enough and lacking a coherent vision.

Certain things the right are right on however, like mass immigration of people from less developed countries being problematic, but that is a different topic.

 

[ICURBlessings]

20 minutes ago, Basman said:

Because left-wing policies tend to benefit common people more with wealth redistribution policies and proactively finding solution to societal problems. "Free healthcare"? why not, right?

The reason why people vote right-wing anyway is because policy doesn't matter when it comes to voting. People vote largely emotionally, based on their culture and values. Who your friends are going to vote for is probably the best predictor of who you are going to vote for. And to be fair, it is very difficult to be well read on politics. It is why we have a representative democracy as opposed to a direct democracy in most cases. Most people just don't have the time or interest.

The right also has an advantage when it comes to messaging as they can shamelessly appeal to fear, insecurity and cultural norms whereas the left tends to offer changes to society and culture, which require more legwork to sell. It is easy for the right to demonize left-wing policy as destroying the country, etc. And to be fair, there is often an essential destruction. Immigration for example changes culture, destroying the culture of the past. The right tends to exaggerate and discount advantages however. Whenever the left makes mistakes, its like pouring oil on a fire for the right. But most of the mistakes the left makes in my opinion are not messaging well enough and lacking a coherent vision.

Certain things the right are right on however, like mass immigration of people from less developed countries being problematic, but that is a different topic.

 

Basman you make a lot of good points. As far as the sheep mentality - voting like the pack - that is certainly true for a great number of people. But I am part of those that has spent time studying history to understand present politics. My research has definitively shaped my perspective. My pack seem to be made of both Left and Right, ...

[Basman]

16 minutes ago, ICURBlessings said:

Basman you make a lot of good points. As far as the sheep mentality - voting like the pack - that is certainly true for a great number of people. But I am part of those that has spent time studying history to understand present politics. My research has definitively shaped my perspective. My pack seem to be made of both Left and Right, ...

It is normal for people to be relatively moderate, having both conservative and progressive perspectives. Moderates are the sandwich filling that the left and right are competing for. And it is a Dutch sandwich so it is cheese with bread instead of bread with cheese.

It is why a far-left party has never won an election as far as I'm aware of (correct me if I'm wrong). When a left-wing party gets elected, it is always more or less a left-of-center party.

Edited August 23 by Basman

[Chadders]

@BlueOak People think they’re being smart by saying if you increase taxes for the rich they’ll leave. This is horse shit

Another issue I see in relation to this and other aspects is that people cannot do nuance. It’s like you comment that there needs to be higher taxes on the rich and a) people automatically think you mean some kind of giant tax increase and b) that they themselves are included into that

It’s like of course there won’t be giant increases. Even marginal wealth taxes can generate a lot of income for public services. And in relation to point b, people actually really do not understand how rich the rich actually are. They have 2mn in assets and they think they’re in that bracket. 2mn is like loose change for some. They do not understand how wealth massively scales  

There shouldn’t be a group of people in the world who are billionaires. That needs to change