Left or Right? Nope, I’m Canadian

The other day, I was having a conversation with a few friends about the situation in the US and one of them brought up the topic of leftright politics. To make a very long story short, overwhelmingly, people have no idea what left-right politics means, especially when referring to the mess in the US.

The term originated in France during the Revolution and refers to those people and their positions who sat to the left and right of the president when parliament was in session.

In the US today, the Democratic Party is considered ‘Left’ because of its ideology and the Republican Party is considered ‘Right’. Left-thinking politicians are also considered liberal (nothing to do with Canadian politics) and Rightthinking politicians conservative (again not referring to Canadian politics).

For ease of understanding, Left-thinking politicians believe in higher taxes on the wealthy and more spending on social programs, while the right believe in lower taxes, reduced spending and less regulation.

Leftists believe in universal healthcare (Obama care), while the Right does not and believe in private healthcare.

The Left believe in public education, while the Right believe that parents should be able to home-school/private school and be paid.

The Left believe in a process for undocumented immigrants to become citizens while the Right believe they should all be turfed out.

The Left believe in moderate forms of gun control while the Right have the Second Amendment tattooed on their foreheads.

With the recent decision on Roe v Wade, I think everyone knows the positions of both parties. Similarly, the Left believe in gay rights and the Right does not.

On the topic of climate change, the Left believe it and enact regulation to control it, but the Right believe the free market will control it on its own.

On voter ID, the Left does not support it and the Right want it to prevent non-proven voter fraud.

The Left does not support the death penalty while the Right does.

The Left are strong proponents of the separation of church and state while the Right are Bible thumpers.

So, with all that said, it’s common to refer to media personalities, newspapers, TV and radio stations and, of course, politicians as Right- or Left-leaning.

Nowhere in the world, I believe, are the ideologies of Left and Right more aligned with political parties than in the US. But it wasn’t always this way.

The Left-leaning Republican Party, under Lincoln, passed laws to protect Black citizens and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, while Democrats opposed it.

But switching ahead to 1936, Roosevelt, a Democrat, created the New Deal, all Left-leaning policies. So, somewhere between the Civil Rights Act and the New Deal, the Democrats became Leftthinking and the Republicans Right.

I’d like to think that I generally support a Left position, but although I am a full and complete supporter of gay rights and everything that encompasses, I don’t think transgender males should compete in women’s sports.

I’m an atheist, but I fully support freedom of religion and my seven-year-old attends religion classes in school. The problem I have is when he asks me if there is a heaven.

I believe in a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion, but I also think there comes a time in the pregnancy when, unless the mother’s life is in danger, the fetus should be brought to term.

I think that all law-abiding citizens should be allowed to own a firearm for hunting and target shooting. These are single-shot rifles and handguns should be even more rigidly controlled than they are now.

I believe in universal Medicare, but if a doctor wants to set up a private practice and charge to get a CT scan, for example, let him.

I believe in climate change, but I don’t support the crazy, ill-conceived assertions that we should stop all oil exploration. We will still need oil and its products 50 years from now.

I believe that all voters should be registered and, if not, provide suitable identification before voting. I also believe that if you don’t vote, unless because of illness or other good reasons, you don’t have an opinion. I also believe that people who refuse to complete census information should be fined.

I do believe on higher taxes on the wealthy, but I believe eliminating the taxes on the socially disadvantaged is more effective that minimum wage standards.

So, what does all that thinking make me? Left or Right?

I think it makes me Canadian. A place where my beliefs are not determined by my political party affiliation. Tom Badcock St. John’s