A Guide to Basic Differences Between Left and Right

The Dennis Prager Show ^ | 1-17-17 | Dennis Prager 

Source of Human Rights: Left: government; Right: the Creator
Human Nature: Left: basically good (Therefore, society is primarily responsible for evil.); Right: not basically good (Therefore, the individual is primarily responsible for evil.)
Economic Goal: Left: equality; Right: prosperity
Primary Role of the State: Left: increase and protect equality; Right: increase and protect liberty
Government: Left: as large as possible; Right: as small as possible
Family Ideal: Left: any loving unit of people; Right: a married father and mother, and children
Guiding Trinity: Left: race, gender and class; Right: liberty, In God We Trust and e pluribus unum
Good and Evil: Left: relative to individual and/or society; Right: based on universal absolutes
Humanity’s Primary Division(s): Left: rich and poor; strong and weak; Right: good and evil
Ideal Primary Identity of an American: Left: world citizen; Right: American citizen
How to Make a Good Society: Left: abolish inequality; Right: develop each citizen’s moral character
View of America: Left: profoundly morally flawed; inferior to any number of European countries; Right: greatest force for good among nations in world history
Gender: Left: a social construct; Right: male and female
Most Important Trait to Cultivate in a Child: Left: self-esteem; Right: self-control
Worth of the Human Fetus: Left: determined by the mother; Right: determined by society rooted in Judeo-Christian values
Primary Source of Crime: Left: poverty, racism and other societal flaws; Right: the criminal’s malfunctioning conscience
Place of God and Religion in America: Left: secular government and secular society; Right: secular government and religious society
American Exceptionalism: Left: chauvinistic doctrine; Right: historical reality
Greatest Threat to the World: Left: environmental catastrophe (currently global warming); Right: evil (currently radical Islamist violence)
International Ideal: Left: world governed by the United Nations, and no single country is dominant; Right: world in which America is the single strongest entity
Primary Reason for Lack of Peace in Middle East: Left: Israeli settlements in the West Bank; Right: Palestinian, Arab and Muslim denial of Jewish state’s right to exist
Purpose of Art: Left: challenge status quo and bourgeois sensibilities; Right: produce works of beauty and profundity to elevate the individual and society
Guns: Left: ideally universally abolished, except for use by police, the armed forces and registered sportsmen; Right: ideally widely owned by responsible individuals for self-protection and the protection of others
Race: Left: intrinsically significant; Right: intrinsically insignificant
Racial, Ethnic and Gender Diversity at Universities: Left: most important; Right: far less important than ideological diversity
Black America’s Primary Problem: Left: racism; Right: lack of fathers
Greatest Playwright: Left: entirely subjective; there is no greatest playwright; Right: Shakespeare
War: Left: not the answer; Right: sometimes the only answer
Hate: Left: wrong, except when directed at the political; Right: wrong, except when directed at evil
Cultures: Left: all equal; Right: some are better than others
America’s Founding Fathers: Left: rich white male slave owners; Right: great men who founded the greatest society
Purpose of Judges: Left: pursue social justice; Right: pursue justice
National Borders: Left: a relic of the past; Right: indispensable for national survival
View of Illegal Immigrants: Left: welcomed guests; Right: illegal immigrants
Nature: Left: intrinsically valuable; Right: made for man