Left-wing or Right-wing?

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One thing that is interesting (to me at any rate) is the way that the concepts of 'Left Wing' and Right Wing' have changed in recent decades. This seems to have begun with the collapse of Communism in the 1989-91 period, and resulted in people abandoning or redefining their ideological positions.

Many Left Wingers for instance, who had previously supported or been sympathetic to hardline Socialism seemed very opportunistically to disown it, at least as far as the economic aspect went. When the old-style Communists in the Soviet Union rebelled against the reforms of Gorbachev and Yeltsin in the early 1990s and tried to stage a coup d'etat, the left-leaning commentators in media like The Guardian, Channel 4 and the BBC universally referred to them as 'The Right', despite the fact that these were the people who had backed the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 (the so-called 'Tankies') in the name of upholding the purity of the Revolution. I found this unbelievable at the time - commentators who a few years earlier had generally been prepared to fall over themselves to make excuses for the excesses of the Hard Left, or to look the other way when required, were now saying in effect 'These people were never anything to do with us. They're The Right.' LOL. It's one reason among many why I find it hard to take the 'Progressive' media seriously.

But you've had a parallel development on the Right. In the 1990s the Liberal Left, having abandoned traditional Socialism, started to concentrate on social and cultural themes, putting the emphasis on the likes of so-called 'political correctness' and identity politics. I think this has very much caught out the traditional Social Conservatives, who were slow to react or didn't know how to react at all, and they've been largely replaced on the modern Right by 'Libertarian' Conservatives, who are either not very interested in social and cultural matters, or are even on board with PC, perhaps because traditional Conservative views aren't 'cool' or radical enough for them.

In any case, what we now have, it seems to me, is a sort of consensus in mainstream politics among people of nominally 'Right' and 'Left' positions, which supports Free Market economic policies on the one hand, and 'Liberal' social policies on the other hand (I put the word in inverted commas, as many of these policies don't seem very liberal at all to me). There doesn't seem to be much room for views which diverge a great deal from these positions, despite all the trite talk of 'diversity'. Is this a healthy state of affairs in supposedly 'democratic' societies? I don't think so!

Humans have the choice to be kinder, and the US has enough of the one percent or so super rich billionaires who could better subsidize those seeking a better life but can't work for whatever reason. I wouldn't describe most of the 1% or so multi-billionaires as "hard working taxpayers" - a few self made but many of them are heirs to fortunes left them. They should be taxed more so as to contribute some small measure towards alleviating poverty.

If you needed to move to another country for whatever reason, would you be prepared to learn their predominant language too?

I fully support saving animals and seeking efficacious cancer cures. Animals don't have a voice to champion their own cause. It's important to protect them from all forms of abuse.

I never said we should have to help those able bodied individuals who are able to work and have the opportunity to, but those who are unable to - even if they have an invisible disability such as being on the spectrum, as many are unable to fir into the workplace.

Speaking of snakes, I dreamed of some last night and that I was handling a brown, possibly harmless snake by reaching to hold it at the back of the neck as the snake handlers say you're supposed to.

They're all a part of life.

Your wife looks a very compassionate person. Here too (South Africa), we have people who do their best for the marine creatures who wash up on the coast. We can't save them all but I take my hat off to those who make the effort.

Nature teaches us so much.

Humanitarian. Neither Right or Left wing.
Not anti-government (as good governments do a lot of good, which all citizens benefit from).

Prefer honest democratic types of government, where the members are voted in by the citizens of a population, and then represent the interests of all the people in society.

Believe profit sharing for all in all employment. Profit sharing, if done properly will prevent economic stagnation.
Profit sharing also prevents monopolies and helps create opportunities for all, prevents minimum wage slavery.

Decent-wing?