“My hypothesis is that rightism is what happens when you’re optimizing for surviving an unsafe environment, leftism is what happens when you’re optimized for thriving in a safe environment.”
A Thrive/Survive Theory Of The Political Spectrum
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i think about this all the time. it’s the closest thing i have to an anchor in the choppy seas of political language
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Hmm. This seems vaguely tautological to me. I agree obviously, but is it weighty enough to be an anchor idea?
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If it’s tautological, it sounds like you’ve already internalized it. I use it instead of alternative schemes like “left=likes change; right=fears change”
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I think it's more basic than left/right or progressive/conservative. Something like a territory of abundance/scarcity crossed with a particular history of exploration gives you a variety of inherited/acquired dispositions, of which those legible political ones have names.
There are statistically uncommon ways of being (for example) abundance minded but rightist, where abundance is seen as the gift of tradition. Or scarcity minded but progressive (environmentalism).
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I think right/left proper is better anchored in strength of disgust response at novelty rather than abundance/scarcity. It is a much shallower thing, but also much harder to shake off.
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