The American Left - A 6-Minute History Lesson

[cesarff2000]

This film is shit. I font know what history he reads but Rome died from within not by the govt overreaching on people, but by the govt enslaving other people. They got rich by defeating other countries & stealing there wealth.

As well in his dumb graph he puts everything left. Nazi's were not for the people! Lmao! Plus he thinks "free markets" solve all issues by competition & there should be no govt. Well I wonder how free markets solved child labor, or slave labor or surfs or quality of foo

[doesthistastefunny]

I want to discuss this, but I don't think you'll hear me. I don't feel you addressed neoliberalism in your video. Have you watched a documentary called THE END OF POVERTY? I would like to offer this film as an alternative to your thesis. It shows a more accurate picture of the origins of capitalism and neoliberal policies.

[TheLunaParty]

Doing research on coporate accountability and Neo Liberalism.

[spkilledme]

Monopolies arise independently of government and corporations can also restrict the rights and freedom of people. This video is silly propaganda.

[mercurypictures]

I don't like government overstepping its bounds as much as the next person, but this video is fundamentally flawed from the start. The left-right spectrum does NOT define the power of government. Authoritarian (read: big government) regimes were found in leftist Russia and right-wing Nazi Germany. A quadrant-style Nolan Chart better defines this, as governments can be left-leaning libertarian and right-leaning authoritarian, contrary to the flawed logic presented in this video.

[mercurypictures]

To continue on: people should be allowed to have their political opinion and express it freely, but you cannot change the definitions and nature of political science to support an ideology. Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia HATED one another because their political systems were on two opposing poles of the left-right spectrum. Both were authoritarian regimes, indeed. But authoritarianism does not mean left-wing. Contrary to conservative thinking, politics is not black and white or 2 dimensional.

[FRSFreeState]

As a Liberal I believe were on the Mainstream Left because we believe in freedom and responsibility and equality. The word liberal comes from the word liberty. And I would place Socialism or Democratic Socialism on the Far Left. Because they believe in the ability of the State to do good for society instead of the people.

[Kougeki1000]

A clearly biased and idiotic video, whoever made this needs to get a fucking education and stop spreading propaganda and not in the least thought through political ideas. Your political spectrum is not the one used in reality - the left is for instance also made up by anarchism; the complete opposite of total gvt, while the right includes for instance fascism, also the complete opposite of no gvt.

Don't take idiotic ideas like this and present it as fact.

Dickhead.

[dklustick]

the far right is FASCISM!

The far Left is COMMUNISM! this video is very conservative biased.

Nazis were right ring extremists... even my ultra right-wing history teacher can tell you that.

[TheLastCanadian]

I support a happy medium. Free capitalism enslaves in its own right, while centrally planned economies are to be frowned upon as well.

A balance is needed.

[GompCelticPL]

@TheLastCanadian You don't understand the word free. And there's no 3rd way but to understand now you need to read Mises' Bureaucracy. To be free means to be able to do anything that's not against the law. Corporations may cheat, steal etc. but you don't need government regulation to control that you just need a good Prosecutor.

[TheLastCanadian]

@GompCelticPL I would beg to differ, I'm really not interested in an idiotic youtube debate, so I'll leave it at that.

[raderator]

The Left gives big govt a bad name. Fascism works extremely well. People love it once they have it and don't want to give it up.

[maxflame]

@raderator I'll take your word for it that some people do like living under Fascism. That's fine if people WANT to live under it. Many of us don't want to - we like freedom. America's constitution was established on the principle of freedom, and every day the government takes more and more power that it was never authorized to have. If people want to live in Europe so badly, move there. Quit changing my country.

[dariashoe2]

Americanism isn't even a system! America was built on the principles of classic liberalism (which were born in Europe) and since then have evolved. To say that anything but "Americanism" is slavery is completely wrong. Look at the Scandinavian countries - socialism is serving them quite well. Historically, the society in which the Aboriginals lived gave them quality of life before the Europeans came along - they didn't live in "slavery" either.

[maxflame]

@dariashoe2 "Look at the Scandinavian countries - socialism is serving them quite well." socialism is fine if people agree to it. But when people are unwillingly forced to pay for other people's desires - that's when it's slavery.

"To say that anything but "Americanism" is slavery is completely wrong." Define slavery. Let's say it's when someone is forced to do something through force or coercion. I'd say throwing me in prison if I don't want to pay for your social security is slavery.

[HoGraz]

@maxflame That is called "Economic Liberalism." This shows how already cannot win this game. Under President Reagan the Social Security Tax went up for incomes 20,000 or less. We have a hybrid system. Remember that. What the Republicans want is socialism for the corporate interest and free enterprise for the rest of us. That's what happens when these bubbles they create make recessions. Also education is a right and not a privilege. Being forced into ignorance is slavery.

[HoGraz]

@maxflame Authoritarians want "happy slaves." That's why the G.O.P. is a Right Wing Party. They want corporate America to thrive moreso than it would under the Democratic Central Government approach.

[PemtiumVideo]

@dariashoe2 also you should consideer that the entire wordl is switching to capitalism right now, look at china, russia, japan they all discovered that they need capitalism and that socialism doesnt work, this is a fact, and i would like to invite you to reconsideer your views according to the facts, also, i am a legal inmigrant who came from venezuela which is a socialist country and believe me venezuela is a chaos at this moment, please lets dont make the same mistake in america

[dariashoe2]

Canada has always been in the middle of the economic and political spectrums, sometimes towards the left and right now moving more towards the right. It has served the country well, and economically, compared to some "free enterprises" and more capitalistic countries, it is pulling out of recession the fastest out of all the G8 countries.

Additionally, the video is completely biased. Saying that any other system but "Americanism" leads to slavery is arrogant and shocking.

[PemtiumVideo]

@dariashoe2 it may be arrogant for some people, but thats the reality

[dariashoe2]

To say that "there are only two ultimate choices" - oligarchy vs republic and "monopolistic, state-controlled economy" vs "competitive, free enterprise" is to disregard the evolution of liberalism throughout time and in fact the political reality of our world today. For example, I would not call Canada a state-controlled economy at the moment, and it is definitely not an oligarchy or a republic.

[maxflame]

@dariashoe2 I cut out the explanation for free market vs state-controlled because of time. Here is their explanation /watch?v=AVsjZBy7hww#t=1m38s

You're right that there can b a mix of state-control and free-market. The problem is that once the principle has been set that the government has the power to create any "socialistic" policy, it's only a matter of time until it becomes a totally state-controlled society. Example: Modern America

[andr386]

This only thing right in this video is that monoply and oligarshism are not democratic.

Regardless of that socialism, communism, liberalism and capitalism are all different and very valid ways of conducting a country. Anarchist and libertarian do not offer a state project, they are just offering good or bad ideas about how any kind of the aforementioned systems can be improved.

[maxflame]

@andr386 What are the "valid ways of conducting a country?" Define "valid." What do you mean by a "sate project?" Proper Libertarianism does have a state. It has a republic with few, but important, responsibilities. It has minimum economic interference and strong protections against increasing governmental powers.

Capitalism is very different from the variations of socialism. Capitalism values freedom first, socialism sacrifices freedom in favor of the coercive redistribution of wealth.

[maxflame]

"...and party affiliation is really pointless." Yeah pretty much. I don't care what "party" a politician claims to be from, I will always be skeptical of them. I despise this assault on our freedom for the last century. That's why I want a small, limited republic, respecting maximum personal freedoms and just generally staying the hell out of our lives.

[BattousaiOfChaos]

Actually, the spectrum is two dimensional. Anyone with even the slightest political science background will tell you this video is bullshit.

[maxflame]

The 2-D map is what an individual believes in social and economic terms. You can get many different names of political "parties," but how many SYSTEMS of government can you get?

What other measure is there besides government power for political systems?

Attempting to disregard the entire video because it doesn't deal with social concerns shows either a lack of understanding the discussion, or lack of interest in truth.

[macekid421]

Well when you put Socialism, a theory of economics, in the same realm as Fascism... you commit many fallacies. This video is just simply not of intellectual sophistication. It is very misleading to someone with little political knowledge.

[maxflame]

I appreciate your non-emotionally charged response. I'm not sure I understand why you disagree with the comparison.

Admittedly, there is disagreement over the amount of control in socialism-it calls for state or collective ownership and control of capital and distribution, sometimes centrally planning most or all of the economy.

Fascism does not dictate government ownership of capital, but it does control it. Surely there are differentiating details, but the main point is control of economy.