Paul Nervy Notes
“Jokes, poems, stories, and a lot of philosophy, psychology, and sociology.”


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Politics, left and right.  ---  .This section is about the left and right wings of the political spectrum.  Topics include: ( ) Left  ( ) Right.  ---  1/24/2006


Politics, left and right.  ---  (1) Conservatives believe that the left is about big government control and reduction of personal freedom.  But governments of total control exist at BOTH ends of the political spectrum: Dictatorship-fascism and Totalitarian-communism.  So the standard left-right political spectrum is flawed.  The real political spectrum has Anarchy (total freedom) on one side and Dictatorship-fascism (no freedom) on the other side.  Or it has Ideal-communitarianism (total equality) on one side and its opposite (no equality) on the other side.  That is, if any of the above four ideal types are remotely possible in the actual world we live in.  Yet many people associate the left with anarchism.  Why?  (2) Is the most accurate model of political views a spectrum or is it a full circle?  Or is it a three dimensional sphere?  Is it rays emanating from a central point, in that you are free to move in any direction from where you are?  ---  12/30/2000


Politics, left and right.  ---  (1) Conservatives think that too much government is a reduction of their freedom and a form of big brother.  (2) But there is a limit to personal freedom.  Public knowledge is paramount for an open society.  ---  1/14/1999


Politics, left and right.  ---  (1) Democrats are looked at as tax and spend, big government, liberals.  (2) Republicans are looked at as rich, warmongers, who do not care about anyone but themselves and their own money.  (3) Democrats need to get better at playing hardball.  Republicans are backward, traditional, uptight, conservatives.  (4) Democrats are change oriented, future oriented.  (5) New deal democrats are minority and working class oriented.  (6) Radical right = religious fundamentalists and white supremacists.  Radical left = bomb throwing communists.  ---  04/16/1994


Politics, left and right.  ---  (1) Democrats.  Maternal ethics.  Care.  (2) Republicans.  Paternal ethics.  Sink or swim attitude in order to teach self-reliance.  (3) We need both?  We need a balance.  ---  5/1/2000


Politics, left and right.  ---  (1) Left: History of left.  Personality types attracted to left.  (2) Right: History of right.  Personality types attracted to right.  ---  01/01/1993


Politics, left and right.  ---  (1) The right is power obsessed, is political and votes.  The left is not power obsessed, is apolitical and does not vote.  (2) The right is organized, hierarchical, obeys orders.  The left is egalitarian.  (3) The right in unthinking, believes what it is told and obeys orders.  The left is thinking.  (4) The right likes to fight, and a race is a fight.  The left does not like to fight, and is more cooperative.  ---  1/1/2005


Politics, left and right.  ---  (1) Types of liberals: City slicker.  Intellectual or academic.  Minority.  Poor person.  (2) Types of conservatives: Southern redneck.  Rural person.  Rich person.  ---  5/30/1998


Politics, left and right.  ---  (1) Why old people are conservative.  Their unconscious thought processes are as follows: "I am old.  I am still good.  Therefore, old things (me) are still good".  (2) Why young people are liberals.  Their unconscious thought processes are as follows: "I am new.  I am good.  Therefore, new things (me) are good".  (3) It is themselves they see.  It is all about ego and pride.  The young liberal vs. old conservative dichotomy is not about an aversion to risk taking gained through experience, like most people think it is.  ---  06/10/1997


Politics, left and right.  ---  (1)(A) Fiscal conservatives: free market.  Laizze faire.  Pro business.  Deregulation.  Local government.  (B) Fiscal liberals: regulation, pro federal government.  Anti corporate.  (2)(A) Social conservatives: against welfare, the environment and education spending.  (B) Social liberals: pro education, welfare, environment.  ---  10/30/1996


Politics, left and right.  ---  A mistaken view of both the left and right is that because the left promotes peace they are wimps and will not struggle or face conflict.  That is a wrong view.  It is best to be a fighting struggling green.  Too many greens withdraw from fighting injustice and fighting for their views.  They are wrong.  ---  1/30/1998


Politics, left and right.  ---  Critique of the right wing.  (1) The libertarian right wing.  See: Politics, justice equality and liberty for a critique of freedom.  See: Politics, government > Anarchy for a critique of anarchy.  (2) The religious right wing.  See: Religion for a critique of religion.  (3) The economic right wing.  See: Business for a critique of business. See: Economics for a critique of free market capitalism.  (4) The criminal right wing.  See: Psychology, pathological, specific, bullying and crime for a critique of bullying and crime.  (5) The military right wing.  See: Politics, issues, military for a critique of the military industrial complex.  ---  11/20/2005


Politics, left and right.  ---  Democrats are altruists.  Conservatives are egoists.  ---  06/05/1997


Politics, left and right.  ---  For all subject areas, get the left argument and the right counter-argument, and visa versa.  Organize arguments from far right to far left, and from most general to most specific.  Example, family life, should homosexual marriage be allowed, and homosexual adoption?  ---  12/30/1996


Politics, left and right.  ---  Is our existing society to the right or left of an ideal society?  Our existing society is too far right of an ideal society, which is why I am a Democrat.  ---  11/20/1998


Politics, left and right.  ---  Is the tendency to become a democrat or republican a tendency that is innate, or is it learned, or is it a combination of heredity and environment?  That depends on how we define the traits of democrats and republicans.  Take it on a trait by trait basis.  ---  12/1/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Left.  (1) How they view themselves (pros).  (A) Goals: Equality for all.  Change oriented, future oriented.  Party of working class and poor.  Radical left: communists.  (B) Means: they need to get better at playing hardball.  (2) How the right views them (contra).  (A) Goals of left.  (B) Means of left: tax and spend, big government.  ---  04/01/1994


Politics, left and right.  ---  Left.  History.  The liberals supported and sped up the freeing of slaves, women's vote, and desegregation.  ---  12/30/1996


Politics, left and right.  ---  Left.  If all the liberals were apolitical, fascism would rule.  Liberals have forgotten their arguments, thus the right is moving in.  ---  12/30/1996


Politics, left and right.  ---  Left.  If you say left is better than right, you should prove it.  You should take a leadership role.  Become a moderate liberal instead of a radical decadent artist.  Killing yourself or self destructing legally or in any other way will only give the other side ammunition for their argument and a psychological morale boost.  It is a war, hunker down.  ---  09/20/1994


Politics, left and right.  ---  Left.  Liberals fight for the underdog: the environment, minorities, women, workers, and the poor.  ---  06/10/1997


Politics, left and right.  ---  Left.  The liberal, progressive, Democratic agenda.  The liberals have the following good ideas.  (1) Health care.  (2) Education.  (3) Environment.  (4) Labor.  (5) Women's rights.  (6) Protect minority rights.  (7) Civil rights, human rights, equal rights.  (8) Protect worker, consumer, general public from exploitation by corporations.  ---  1/14/2006


Politics, left and right.  ---  Left.  Universal suffrage.  Desegregation.  Equal rights and pay for women and minorities.  Environmental concerns.  Universal health care.  Free public education.  Child care.  Worker safety.  Unions.  Government control of economy to avoid economic recessions.  Peace movement, anti-nukes, anti-arms race.  The left had to fight to get all of the above.  All the right does is bitch and moan.  If they had it their way, we would be back in the stone age with no change.  ---  11/01/1994


Politics, left and right.  ---  Left.  What liberals object to is the random injustice of dumb luck.  That one person is born smart and another dull is just dumb luck.  The left claims that the rich get rich not on hard work but on dumb luck.  The conservatives argues that the rich get rich based on hard work, but the liberals say it is due the natural injustice of uneven distribution of human abilities.  The left seeks to address natural injustices.  Of natural injustices the right merely says "Tough luck" or "That's life" or "Its gods will".  ---  1/31/2000


Politics, left and right.  ---  Let's hypothesize two political parties.  Party B thinks they are "tougher" than party A.  Party B thinks those in party A are wimps, spineless, weak willed.  Power tactics that party B is likely to resort to, in order to dominate, is to make the situation so nasty and miserable that party A folds before party B folds.  Party B will use every dirty trick in the book to beat up party A.  Party B bullies party A.  Sound familiar?  ---  12/31/2003


Politics, left and right.  ---  Liberal vs. conservative.  (1) Conservative: defense, protection, security of x from self, others, nature.  (2) Liberal: offense, attack, advance, gain.  ---  12/30/1992


Politics, left and right.  ---  Liberal vs. conservative.  (1) Conservatives: stasis.  (2) Liberals: change.  ---  12/30/1992


Politics, left and right.  ---  Liberals take the high road.  Conservatives take the low road.  Conservatives resort to dirty tricks more than liberals.  ---  9/25/2003


Politics, left and right.  ---  Libertarianism, or radical conservatism, is an appeal to "easy answers".  It appeals to people who have the following misguided point of view: "I do whatever I want.  No one tells me what to do.  No government tells me what to do.  I pay no taxes.  I take the law into my own hands.  I'm going to do whatever I want, to whoever I want, whenever I want, and if anyone does not like it then they can try to stop me."  It is a philosophy of bullies.  Its no way to run a society.  ---  11/15/2003


Politics, left and right.  ---  List of things obtained over the objections of conservatives.  End of slavery.  End of racial segregation.  The vote for men.  The vote for women.  Public education, libraries, museums, parks, etc.  Anti-trust laws.  Social security.  40 hour work week.  Child labor laws.  And there are conservatives still who would like to undo all of the above.  ---  11/23/2003


Politics, left and right.  ---  Political teams.  Offense: the democrats quick and agile.  Defense: the republicans, stalwarts, hunkered down.  ---  8/18/2000


Politics, left and right.  ---  Rich and poor.  The rich say you should have to work for your money.  But often the poor work harder and longer than the rich.  And often the rich gain cushy, no-show, or easy jobs that pay a lot, just by nepotism, or schmoozing, or else they inherit their money.  That's just luck they say.  But do we want a system based on dumb luck, or on fairness and justice?  Justice is not saying "I was born rich, so tough luck".  Life is unjust and we must strive to make it just.  The rich are few in number, and the majority of (poor) people dislike the rich because they think the rich are lazy, snobbish, and live ostentatiously.  ---  05/30/1996


Politics, left and right.  ---  Rich.  The rich hold power.  They make the laws.  The make the laws in their own favor, to protect their self interests.  ---  06/10/1997


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing, components of.  (1) The religious right.  Against homosexuality.  Against separation of church and state.  (2) The rich right.  Against paying taxes.  Against welfare.  Against public education.  (3) The social darwinist right.  Do not want to help the weak, the disempowered or the poor.  Want the weak, disempowered and poor to die.  Against "big" government.  (4) The fascist right.  Against dark skinned people.  Against immigration.  (5) The anarcho-libertarian right.  Doesn't want any laws.  Prefers the "law of the jungle".  Predators and opportunists.  Wants to beat up people wherever and whenever they feel like it.  (6) The criminal right.  Wants to be free to pursue their unethical bashings and business ventures.  Finds government and law to be a nuisance.  ---  6/11/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing, components of.  The business right, the corporate right.  Believes in unimpeded pursuit of money.  Desires freedom from any interference.  Believes in law of jungle.  ---  6/14/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing, components of.  The criminal right.  Nazis.  KKK.  Mob.  Believe might is right.  Believe in authoritarianism and paternalism.  Often also religious fanatics.  Traditionalists for an imagined mythic past.  Believes in cracking heads, beating up people and bullying.  ---  6/14/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing, conservatives, republicans.  (1) The right wing is more obsessed with power and thus more obsessed with politics than left wing.  (2) The right wingers go in for blind obedience and hierarchical organization.  (3) The right wing is more obsessed with money.  Have more money to spend on campaigns.  (4) The right wing is better at marketing.  Better at propaganda.  Better at lying.  (5) The right wing appeals to simplistic buzzwords and soundbites more.  Appeals to base emotions more.  (6) The right wing fights dirty more.  Uses unfair tactics more.  Uses bullying behavior more.  (7) The right wing abuses the system more.  Cheats more.  Abuses power more.  (8) The right wing is for the interests of the few, not the many.  ---  10/15/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing.  Neo-conservatives want to start a war.  (1) Neo-cons want to start a war because neo-cons will use war as an excuse to do whatever they want.  (2) Neo-cons want to start a war in order to make more money supplying arms that are used to destroy things.  Then the neo-cons want to make money from contracts to rebuild what they have destroyed.  (3) Neo-cons want to start a war because they do not care if people die, as long as it is not themselves who die.  (4) Neo-cons want to start a war in order to control the populace.  Neo-cons want to terrorize the populace through the fear of war.  ---  3/8/2007


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing.  PART ONE.  False assumptions of the opposition (the right wing).  What the opposition is banking on.  The opposition is working based on the following false assumptions:  (1) People are entirely self interested.  People will think only of their own well being, and not the well being of others.  People are always egoists, never altruists.  (2) People always seek pleasure and avoid pain.  People will avoid confronting displeasing subjects.  The problems of the world are displeasing.  Confronting the problems of the world is hard work, which people will avoid.  (3) The opposition is appealing to people's baser (cruder) instincts.  The opposition is operating based on their own baser (cruder) instincts.  The opposition is base (crude).  The opposition has abased (crude-ified) themselves.     PART TWO.  Sleazy tactics used by the opposition.  The opposition often uses some or all of the following unethical tactics.  (1) Try to convince you everything is fine.  Down play any problems.  Distract your attention from any problems.  Try to cover up their actions.  Try to convince you the important is unimportant, and the unimportant is important.  Try to make you feel helpless.  Try to scare you away from confronting them.  Try to convince you that the issue, your cause, is not important.  Try to convince you that the issue, your cause, is not urgent.  Try to convince you that the issue, your cause, is hopeless.  Try to block your access to information.  They will attempt to vilify the opposition.  They will attempt to humiliate the opposition.  They will attempt to dissuade you from thinking.  They will attempt to dumb-down society and public discourse.  They will appeal to your desire for personal comfort.  They will try to tell the public that there are no real problems present because all the problems have been solved.  They will try to tell the public that if there were any problems then there is nothing you can do about it anyway.  They will tell the public that they should aspire to a life of leisure, comfort and entertainment.  ---  8/21/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing.  Strategy and tactics of the sleazy right wing.  PART ONE.  The the sleazy right wing's general strategy is to prevent you from thinking, talking, and acting on your progressive activism.  Do not let the sleazy right wing de-politicize you.  Think, talk, and act on your progressive principles every day.     PART TWO.  There are several tactics used by the sleazy right wing.  (1) The opposition will try to distract you with other goals, for example, with mindless work.  Do not let the opposition distract you.  (2) The opposition will try to de-motivate you by trying to make you think your cause is hopeless.  Do not let the opposition de-motivate you.  (3) The opposition will try to frighten you out of your activism.  Do not let the opposition frighten you out of activism.  (4) The opposition will try to tempt or lure you away from activism with promises or actual money or sex or some other thing you enjoy.  Do not let the opposition tempt or lure you away from activism.  ---  5/22/2007


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing.  Stupidity, selfishness and magical thinking run rampant in current American republicanism.  ---  11/18/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing.  Tactics of the opposition, the right wing:  (1) Delaying tactics include saying that, "Its too soon to know for sure.  Its too soon to act on the matter.  Go more slowly.  Be more cautious."  Another tactic is to say that its too late to do anything.  (2) Distracting tactics include saying that, "The issue is not as important as other issues.  We have more important things to worry about."  ---  10/10/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing.  The opposition, the right wing, wants you to take the following attitudes.  (1) To say you can only think about your family and nothing else.  (2) To say you can only think about your job and nothing else.  (3) To say you can only think about your hedonistic vacation obsession and nothing else.  (4) That is, the opposition, the right wing, wants you to divert your attention from the problems of the world.  The opposition wants you to think its someone else's problem.  ---  9/12/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing.  The right wing propaganda machine does not have to make statements that are factually true or logically sound because the right wing base doesn't think critically.  The right wingers believe and obey.  The right wingers are faith based, not reason based.  ---  11/8/2004


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right wing.  The sleazy conservatives rely on a "divide and conquer" strategy.  The apotheosis of the divide and conquer strategy is an extreme individualism where every person is isolated.  That is egotism.  The right wing wants you to think only about yourself and not about society.  (2) The antidote to conservatism is to think about society.  Think less about making money and think more about saving the world.  You do not need to be a millionaire.  All that money will not help you nor make you happy.  You do need to live a good life.  A good life means helping others and solving the problems of the world.  ---  6/1/2007


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right.  (1) How they view themselves (pros).  (A) Goals: get the commies.  No government.  Laizze faire, status quo, no change.  Traditional.  Uptight.  Radical right: nazis, religious fundamentalists.  (B) Means: dig up dirt on you, throw untrue dirt on you, get others on their side with false promises.  (2) How the left views them (contra).  (A) Goals of right: rich, warmongers, self centered.  (B) Means of right:.  ---  04/01/1994


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right.  (1) Types on american right.  (A) Totalitarian fascists who outlaw behavior that they believe is immoral, or communist.  (B) Anarchists.  No government.  Freedom for all.  (C) Status quo, laizze faire, government hands off, want to stay rich.  (D) Religious fundamentalists.  (2) Techniques of the american right.  (A) Dig up dirt on you (truth).  (B) Call you names (lies).  (3) Get others on their side by promising lies to them.  ---  09/20/1993


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right.  Conservative rhetoric used to pacify and oppress the masses.  (1) "I worked hard so I deserve to be on top" - in reality they are on top because of hereditary money/power base).  (2) "If you work hard you can do it too", - in reality the system exploits low classes.  No matter how hard they work they won't get the money they need to get out of poverty.  They are perpetually working poor.  (3) "If you are poor it is your own fault.  You are lazy.  You are stupid.  You are genetically inferior."  (4) "If you are poor you are being punished as sinner".  "If you are poor you deserve to die".  ---  08/24/1994


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right.  Conservatives have survival neurosis, they want to live at any cost.  ---  08/24/1994


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right.  Conservatives.  Some care only about themselves.  Some just do not care about other people or the natural environment.  It is a selfish, dim point of view.  We live in a society, not as loners.  Man is a social animal.  It is immoral to ignore other people and to ignore the natural environment.  (1) The (wrong) arguments that conservatives use to justify doing nothing for others and keeping the status quo include: (A) Greed is good.  (B) Philosophical egoism.  (C) Social Darwinism.  (D) Genetic inferiority of other "races" of people.  (E) Tough luck.  (F) Tough love.  (G) Do not want to pay any taxes.  (H) Survival justifies any behavior.  (2) It is isolationist, provincial and narrow minded to think only of yourself.  It is also a short term view to think only of yourself, because you will be dead soon.  What we need is a holistic view, global in scale and long term.  Egoism taken to its extreme is like a reptile that eats its young.  You do not even care about your children.  ---  5/22/1999


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right.  The conservative, republican, right wing agenda.  Conservatives have the following bad ideas.  (1) The conservatives want to combine church and state, as long the state religion is Christianity.  (2) The conservatives want to dismantle the public school system.  (3) The conservatives want to eliminate regulatory agencies, for example, the FDA and SEC.  (4) The conservatives want to eliminate welfare.  (5) The conservatives want to privatize social security.  (6) The conservatives want to increase military spending and have more wars to make more money.  (7) The conservatives want to give tax breaks to corporations.  ---  1/14/2006


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right.  View of life as struggle leads to view of life as war, which leads to view of self as soldier.  This is how hierarchical conservatives see it.  "You are in the army now.", blind obedience, survival neurosis.  ---  01/01/1993


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right.  Why conservatism (the right) maintains its popularity.  Conservatism is a movement that values freedom over equality.  Freedom is a political value that is easier to comprehend than equality.  However, equality is no less important than freedom.  When people ponder political values it is easier for them to see why people need freedom than it is for them to see why equality is needed.  This is why freedom gets more air play than equality.  ---  6/23/2000


Politics, left and right.  ---  Right.  Why I am not a republican.  Republicans strike me as dim more than they do mean and greedy, although they do strike me as mean and greedy too.  How can they get rich if they are so dim?  It doesn't take a lot of brains to make money, you just have to go into a lucrative line of business, and pursue it single mindedly.  In fact, it is probably easier to make a lot of money if you are of just slightly above average intelligence.  This applies whether you are an entrepreneur, a professional, or working your way safely up the corporate ladder.  The truly smart, i.e. inventors, high level academics, high level artists, etc. usually are not very rich as a rule.  ---  10/30/1996


Politics, left and right.  ---  Spectrum, left and right.  (1) Left extremists: NVA, maoists, commies.  (2) Right extremeists: nazis, fundamentalists.  Guerrilla.  (3) Tactics of both: terror, torture, indoctrination, propaganda, hijack, hostages, bombings.  ---  04/01/1993


Politics, left and right.  ---  Stereotypical categories of left and right.  Liberal vs. conservative.  Big government vs. small government.  Change is good vs. change is not good.  More equality vs. more freedom.  Urban vs. rural.  Poor vs. rich.  Young vs. old.  Altruists vs. egotists.  Future vs. past.  Relaxed vs. uptight.  Arts, education, media vs. business, military.  Man is basically good vs. man is basically evil.  Doves vs. hawks.  ---  6/9/2000


Politics, left and right.  ---  The conservative attitude, the republican attitude is one of egoism, and one that exhorts people to think primarily of their own self interests, and thus it has a "divide and conquer" mentality intrinsically built into it.  It is an example of extreme individualism in a bad sense.  (2) The progressive attitude, the Democratic attitude is an altruistic attitude, a uniting attitude, a social attitude.  ---  12/17/2006


Politics, left and right.  ---  The most important issues are not between the democrats and the republicans.  The democrats and republicans should be joining together to help fight the greater injustices in other countries.  ---  5/8/1999


Politics, left and right.  ---  The primary strategy of the old reactionaries is to demotivate the young, to make the young feel hopeless, helpless, apathetic, disenfranchised, and disempowered.  This is also the primary strategy of the rich against the poor.  When the rich old reactionaries can make the poor young feel like, "The world is going to hell in a handbasket, so why bother.", then the rich old reactionaries have won a battle.  Get involved.  ---  2/23/2001


Politics, left and right.  ---  The right views the left as weak, soft and hypersensitive.  So the tactics that the right uses include bullying, harassment, abuse, etc.  ---  10/12/2003


Politics, left and right.  ---  There has been a general trend in distribution of power from kings, to rich white males, to poor white males, to women and minorities.  This tradition has been of increasing equality for more people.  (1) Conservatives, various views:  Edmund Burke.  Stasis, status quo.  Aristocracy.  Return back to tradition (monarchy).  Religious right.  Robber barons.  Radical right militant fascists.  (2) Liberals, various views.  John Locke.  Pro working man and unions.  Radical left groups like green peace.  Freedom for working man (shorter hours, no child labor, safety rules on job). Progressives like TR and FDR.  Their enemies attack them as tax and spenders, with low morals.  ---  10/30/1996


Politics, left and right.  ---  Today we live in a fast changing world which requires adaptability, vision, and critical reasoning, which belief based religious conservatives essentially lack.  The two party system is useful though to provide a dialectic.  ---  06/30/1997




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Paul Nervy Notes. Copyright 1988-2007 by Paul Nervy.