The Collectivist Left vs. The Individualist Right

The Collectivist Left vs. The Individualist Right
Culture War Doug Hagin, Senior Writer
July 16, 2007









There are several significant differences between the ideological Right and Left. We all know this. Abortion, taxation, the size of government, national defense, gun control, etc are all issues that divide the two ideologies. We all are well aware of these specific issues and the way the two sides generally view them. What is interesting, to me anyway, is why the two sides differ on these and other issues. I have come to believe there is a common theme that divides the two ideologies.

While the specific issues already cited separate the two sides, there is one major difference that coves all these issues. The difference is in the thinking of the two sides. What they think, is best explained in how they think. In short, the Left thinks collectively, while the right thinks individually.

The Left talks about charity and giving for example. They talk about it constantly. They talk about it so much you might think they invented charitable giving. Their talk, though, and their walk, are quite different. Several studies of charitable giving have shown that those on the right give significantly more than those on the Left. Studies also have shown that those Americans in red states, states that tend to vote Republican, are more giving than those in the blue states. How can this be? Perhaps it is best explained by how each side sees charity and generosity.

The Right thinks as individuals. We see a tragedy somewhere and we give our money. We do not expect the government to take our money and then give it. In fact, we would rather the government take much less of our money. The Left tends to call us greedy because we want lower taxes. Yet, the record of the Right on charitable giving is better than that of the Left. Therefore, really, it is surely not greed that drives Conservatives is it. If we were greedy, we would keep our money and not support the Red Cross or Salvation Army, or other charities wouldn’t we?

The Left, however, sees true charity as national giving, collective giving. Recall the Tsunami at the end of 2004. Americans gave billions and billions of dollars to the relief organizations after that tragic disaster. Yet, those on the left bashed America as greedy. How can that be? Well it was the amount our government gave they focused on. Ignoring the billions individual Americans gave, the Left instead saw only what the US government gave. Again, collectivism raises its head.

To the ideological Left it is only the collective giving that counts. They see America as a government, not as a nation of free people. To them, the giving of individuals, who choose to give is worth less than when government chooses for them what charity to give to and how much to give to it. Only when a government takes our money then gives it is it truly charitable and worthwhile to the Left. This is not to say no one on the Left gives of their own money, it is to point out the value the Left grants to individual giving as compared to the worth they attach to collective giving.

Source: New Media Journal

Commentary

Just listen at the current crop of Dems for President when they are speaking. They all have one common refrain, "That the government take from the rich, and give to the poor."

Sounds an awful lot like Karl Marx's appropriated dictum: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

It will do you well to remember that every one of those candidates are communists, and most are too cowardly to admit it openly. The 2008 Election Campaign will offer us to diverging paths...one will lead to the utter destruction that is Collectivism, and the other leads to American Exceptionalism expressed as Individualism. (Unless we nominate Rudy)