Re: Censorial leftists (Was: Interesting article)

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

Lizard,

Don't get me wrong.  I think the right left dichotomy does continues to
have meaning in some contexts, and when appropriate, it would make sense
to describe me as left (certainly by some contemporary standards).   I
just don't think of this is the only way to think about what is going on
today, and for many issues that I work on day to day, it predicts next
to nothing, in terms of who supports what.  Here are some examples.  I
have been working on a very wide range of issues relating to
intellectual property, since 1990.  I don't really see most of the
alliances on those issues well defined by a right left dichotomy.  I
work on a number of privacy issues too.  And I don't think anyone could
describe the alliances on privacy issues as having much to do with a
right left dichotomy.  Freedom of Information and right to know issues
(Ralph Nader was the single most important actor in getting the modern
FOIA laws) have a very broad constituency.  Access to government
information over the Internet?  The pro-access coalition is very broad. 
I work on issues relating to pricing of digital telephone services (ISDN
and various unbundling issues relating to xDSL pricing).  Except for a
handful of zero government true believers, this doesn't end up being a
left right issue either.  Should cable be permitted to control DBS
spectrum?  Not a right left issue.  Should South Africa be permitted to
import pharmacuetical drugs (parallel imports)?  There are big
commerical interests lobbying on this, but I don't think of the
fundemental issues as right left.  I'm certainly on the side of the CATO
institute on this one.  Is Microsoft engaged in anticompetitive
practices?  A hot topic, certainly, but the persons who are concerned
with Microsoft are a pretty broad coalition, in terms of traditional
ideological labels.

Now, if one sees the burning issue of the day the fight to rid the world
of government as we know it, maybe right left labels make sense.  By
defining both the left and the right as groups who advocate increasing
government control over private actions, you describe what seems most
important to you.  I found this characterization of "leftists" as
shallow as Declan's, however.

    Jamie


Lizard wrote:
> When the leftists try to avoid being called 'leftists', you know it's
> all over but the mopping up.
> 
> But, nonetheless, let me try:
> "A leftist is someone who advocates increasing government control
> over private actions, especially in the name of such mummeries as
> 'equality' and 'fairness'. Contrast to a rightist, who advocates
> increasing government control over private action in the name of
> 'decency' and 'values'."

-- 
James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
voice 202.387.8030; fax 202.234.5176
http://www.cptech.org  |  love@cptech.org