“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.
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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.
am a personal fan of kling's three axes/languages:
conservatives: civilization v barbarism
liberals: oppressors v oppressed
libertarians: freedom v coercion
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I like that overlapping Postrel and Sowell to get constrained/unconstrained, stasis/dyanamist
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