There really is no such thing as Left Wing and Right Wing. Political opinion and views are on a continuum like a circle, neither starting nor ending. They are part of the same circular political spectrum.
The bottom is occupied by the centrist view point. You might call it a moderate, or with those that don't have a political point of view at all. This is probably where most people live, politically. This is a safe place to be and doesn't require much thought, or more importantly, doesn't require any friction or fighting. Centrists don't blow up each other for a centrist ideology.
From there you have to go to the right or the left, conservative or liberal. They are depicted with a great deal of space on the lower part of the circle because they occupy a great deal of differing levels of intensity. With respect for each other these 3 groups can and do co-exist in peace and must work together for the sake of representative democracies.
Let that sink in for a moment. I went to college in a very liberal town known for its hippie views, and was discovering my conservative identity. The one thing I learned from talking and arguing with both sides of a political situation was that both sides had good and bad thoughts. Put simply - Liberals remind Conservatives to feel, and Conservatives remind Liberals to think.
Now from this spot the going gets a little tougher. Liberals can become leftists and then socialists, while conservatives can become so many different things that I couldn't label or they can speed right past Go and turn into fascists. They don't get the $200. Either way this is where democracy has taken a back seat to an ISM. Whether it be socialISM/communISM or fascISM the people will start to suffer from lessing freedoms and basic protections from the state. At this point there is no respect for differing points of view and those that oppose the state are dealt with... or made to disappear. Of course there is always the re-education camp or Gulag.
At the top of the spectrum, or the most unstable point in the circle, is complete totalitarianISM. Whether it be a communist regime under the title of People's Democratic Republic of Blahblah, or a fascist group called the National Socialist Party of Blahblah, the result is total and complete power in the hands of a small group of people or in one person. All freedoms belong to the state.
The important thing to remember with the circle is that the farther away from the bottom you go the more energy and power (or abuse of power) it takes to maintain control of the people. Also the farther way you go the fewer freedoms there are. As the state takes away freedoms they do so without the consent of the people and thus have to do so with the use of power. I don't mean losing the right to vote by convicted felons, I'm talking about the right of the people to protest, meet, or to form opposing political parties.
If you look at the line across the center of the circle the area above is the ISM Zone for a reason. This area doesn't have any safe places for political discourse. Almost everything is forced into a state of extremism. There is that damn ISM again.
ISM states mostly lead to other forms of ISM states. What did you say? If left alone (no outside intervention) an ISM state may have a revolution or change of power, but it will be to another form of an ISM state, or the same kind.
Political or military coups can lead from a Hunta to a communist regime, or from a monarchy to a dictatorship, or... It is rare and wonderful to see an ISM state replaced with the seeds of democracy. This is not something that happens overnight. Look at the pain that the former USSR is going through. They are still not a democracy, but they are much closer than they were 20 years ago.
The one thing I learned from putting this idea together while in school many years ago is that no one prospers in a ISM state and as long as there is respect for each other that ALL situations can be resolved together, from one side of the circle to the other (below the ISM Zone). And most importantly that both sides MUST co-exist much like light and dark, hot and cold, yin and yang. Really what this means is that within us all are a little of the other side no matter what we say our political views are. Within each liberal is a little conservative and each conservative has a little liberal within them.
Yes, even Ann Coulter has a little liberal within her. It is probably screaming its ass off, but it's there.
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