Frequently the nightly news reports on the hideous acts of an "extreme right-wing
dictator." I find this statement as clearly confusing as jumbo shrimp. It is as
oxymoronic as the unbiased media making the report.
To the media, right means bad. Left has little if any meaning. They are emotional
terms rather than diagnostic terms. Whenever a dictator commits an atrocity, that
dictator is "right wing." However, the terms left and right can and do have simple,
meaningful, non-judgmental definitions in politics:
The left favors more government.
The right favors less government.
An extreme left wing government would control all activities of its citizens.
North Korea is a contemporary example of an extreme left wing government. An
extreme right wing government is oxymoronic and cannot exist. The United States,
in 1776, was a good example of a right-leaning government.
An inherent trait of government is an inevitable leftward predisposition with
time. Humans build governments, humans are inherently greedy, and therefore
governments are inherently greedy and satisfy their greed through ever expanding
governmental power.
All dictators are left wing unless they are an army of one.