A New Model

It is hardly novel to note that our conventional left-right-center model of the political
spectrum is inadequate. Bac in the si!ties" a couple of science fiction writers coined
the term politically non-#uclidean to descri$e a model $ased solely on the degree of
control favored $y a political ism. %his was useful" in that it allowed us to deplore
left-wing totalitarians on an equal footing with those from the right. &owever" it was
inadequate in that it allowed no distinction $etween the wrongful political repression
of a 'talin and the sort of necessary" temporary measures implemented $y a
(inochet to forestall lasting tyranny. )urther" it allowed no distinction $etween the sort
of religious persecution now occurring in *ed +hina" India" #gypt" and other
countries" and the strictures of morality necessary to maintain a free society.
%he model now $eing mass-mareted $y the left is a truncated version of the
classical left-right-center model" with the center located halfway $etween the old
center and the old left" and everything from the old center rightward la$eled" e!treme
right-wingnut land. It is useful to compare these two models to gain perspective on
the deceptive rhetoric of the left. &owever" this still doesn,t adequately model the
American political spectrum as the twentieth-century whee-es and thumps to a close.
.e are em$roiled in a culture war" which can only $e descri$ed as" %he left
against/the rest of us. All the rest of us.
*o$ert Bor tells us that a model of the American political spectrum must $e
asymmetrical. %here simply is no American right wing that shares the intent of the
left of completely doing away with American civili-ation and replacing it with its own
creation. I propose" therefore" a model with its starting point in the center of the old
model" $ranching away at right angles from the old ordinate.
Imagine" please" a line of clear glass $eaers arrayed on this new coordinate"
stretching away toward the hori-on" each filled with clear water. %he first we will
ar$itrarily call alpha" the last we will call omega. Now" we tae an eyedropper" and
into the first $eaer 0located at alpha1 we will place one drop of India in. Into each
successive $eaer" we will put one drop more than in the previous $eaer. 2$viously"
the first $eaers will $etray no sign of contamination to the naed eye. As we
proceed" though" the water will $egin to $ecome mury. By the time we arrive at
omega" we will $e leaving $eaers of virtually pure India in" $lac as sin. %his is
analogous to the contamination of thought $y leftism in all its manifestations" among
the American people today.
&aye tells us that what the left denigrates as capitalism is" in fact" nothing other
than the way people act within the e!tended order of human cooperation" so long as
no $usy$ody government is $reathing down their necs demanding that they act
otherwise. %herefore" we are 3ustified in saying that alpha" the old center" represents
the near a$sence of contamination. %o the degree that one accepts the precepts of
the left" one moves further from alpha and closer to omega. As one moves toward
omega" there is a point at which everything other than India in $ecomes positively
hateful. #!actly where that point lies is of no practical interest" $ut we have all seen
individuals who have clearly crossed it.
It is important to understand that leftism appeals to certain $asic human instincts.
%his can mae its precepts very seductive to the undisciplined intellect" if that intellect
is without spiritual underpinnings. %his in turn means that there is a ind of entropy at
wor in this model" a spiritual entropy if you will" created $y this seductiveness. 4ust
as physical entropy moves in one direction" from higher energy states to lower" so the
appeal to $asic instincts creates an entropic pull towards omega. 4ust as physical
entropy can only $e overcome $y the addition of energy" this tendency to drift
leftward can only $e overcome $y the in3ection of energy 0i.e." facts" ideas" and
5race1 from outside the leftist system of thought.
In addition to the spiritual entropy that threatens to drag us toward omega" another
factor is at wor6the tendency of the -ealot to proselyti-e. .e are faced with the
spectacle of the gentlemen of the fourth estate sprinting furiously $ac and forth
along the continuum" eyedroppers in hand" splashing as much India in in our
$eaers as they thin they can get away with. %he education esta$lishment" of
course" is also heavily populated with India in -ealots" as is the entertainment
industry.
&ow do we apply this model to our two-party system7 %hat,s fairly simple" actually.
%here is a region of overlap on the continuum" populated $y *epu$licans and
8emocrats alie. )rom this area of overlap" the rest of the *epu$licans fall $ac
along the continuum toward alpha" and the rest of the 8emocrats fall along it toward
omega. 9i$ertarians are not a coherent entity when plotted using this model" $ut can
$e found in every region e!cept that closest to alpha.
It has already $ecome a clich: that to today,s American left" a right-winger is
anyone who opposes leftist ideology. An e!treme right-winger is someone who
opposes it vigorously. .hen we loo at this phenomenon in the light of the $eaer
model" we can plainly see that" to a leftist" the right wing is comprised of all those
who are significantly closer than he to alpha.
%his model also has implications for the amoral deal-cutting that the .ashington
aristocracy lie to call" the political process. If" for instance" you have a politico who
is located further toward omega demanding compromise of a politico located closer
to alpha" the result of such compromise can only $e the increased contamination of
the second politico6the addition of India in to his $eaer" and to the American $ody
politic.
%his model also has implications for the individual. If we accept the arguments of
&aye that leftism is $ased in error and leads to tyranny" and the arguments of Bor
and 'owell that the immorality of the left is destructive of a free society" then the
individual has a duty to resist the left whenever encountered. An individual may have
a right to his opinions" $ut every effort to implement the policies of the left must $e
seen as destructive of freedom" and therefore a crime against humanity. If we accept
all this" then the left has no claim on our tolerance for their ideas" nor on our respect
for their good intentions.