Right and Left Politics

[Optimus Prime]

When playing the word association game people almost always go with the word's opposite

Wet-Dry

Day-Night

Hot-Cold

Right........Left?

But you can easily argue the opposite of right is wrong - was that intentional?

Does anyone know when and how Conservative/Republican viewpoints came to be known as right and Liberal/Democrat ones as left?

Why isn't it the other way around?

Just something I've wondered about

 

[RobF]

When playing the word association game people almost always go with the word's opposite

Wet-Dry

Day-Night

Hot-Cold

Right........Left?

But you can easily argue the opposite of right is wrong - was that intentional?

Does anyone know when and how Conservative/Republican viewpoints came to be known as right and Liberal/Democrat ones as left?

Why isn't it the other way around?

Just something I've wondered about

The answer is genuinely the French Revolution. When the National Assembly met in 1789 to draft a constitution, supporters of the King gathered on the right of the presiding officer., and the revolutionaries on the left. The divisions continued, the terms persisted, and eventually spread out beyond France.

https://www.history.com/news/how-did-the-political-labels-left-wing-and-right-wing-originate

 

[Optimus Prime]

The answer is genuinely the French Revolution. When the National Assembly met in 1789 to draft a constitution, supporters of the King gathered on the right of the presiding officer., and the revolutionaries on the left. The divisions continued, the terms persisted, and eventually spread out beyond France.

https://www.history.com/news/how-did-the-political-labels-left-wing-and-right-wing-originate

Thanks Rob

 

[Farb]

Well, they were French...so they sucked by that standard alone.

 

[Dragon]

Well, they were French...so they sucked by that standard alone.

Well without the french navy just 8 years earlier, you might have lost your war of independence...

 

[brandon]

And for what it's worth, we can talk about extreme examples on both sides all day, but in the end, the right side of history almost never favors conservatism.

 

[Richard]

They were going to go with correct and left, but it was too many syllables.

 

[Yggdrasill]

Well, they were French...so they sucked by that standard alone.

Not to thread hijack, but what exactly "sucks" about France or the French?

 

[Farb]

Not to thread hijack, but what exactly "sucks" about France or the French?

I guess France the country is fine, it just has a bunch of french people there.

 

[Saintamaniac]

I guess France the country is fine, it just has a bunch of french people there.

That's like saying the US is a fine country, it just has a bunch of gun loving racists there.

 

[Yggdrasill]

I guess France the country is fine, it just has a bunch of french people there.

Oh such clever word play. Seriously, what is your beef with France/the French? I see this often and I don't get the issue.

 

[Farb]

Oh such clever word play. Seriously, what is your beef with France/the French? I see this often and I don't get the issue.

I am a fan of Arthur Wellesley.
And it was a joke.

 

[Yggdrasill]

I am a fan of Arthur Wellesley.
And it was a joke.

Ah. Well, I like France and I'm not a fan of Boney.

I pushed on asking you about this because I see a lot of offhand smears of France among conservatives and it puzzles me. I know there was a reaction against France in some quarters when they (wisely) both decided to participate in the most recent Iraq War and advised us not to as well. Interesting thing is that, none of those detractors have since acknowledged that France was right and apologized.

 

[Farb]

Ah. Well, I like France and I'm not a fan of Boney.

I pushed on asking you about this because I see a lot of offhand smears of France among conservatives and it puzzles me. I know there was a reaction against France in some quarters when they (wisely) both decided to participate in the most recent Iraq War and advised us not to as well. Interesting thing is that, none of those detractors have since acknowledged that France was right and apologized.

I get it. I remember the whole freedom fries fiasco. Never really understood it myself because my dislike for the French is more of a history nerd dislike for the French than a modern dislike.

 

[bdb13]

Ah. Well, I like France and I'm not a fan of Boney.

I pushed on asking you about this because I see a lot of offhand smears of France among conservatives and it puzzles me. I know there was a reaction against France in some quarters when they (wisely) both decided to participate in the most recent Iraq War and advised us not to as well. Interesting thing is that, none of those detractors have since acknowledged that France was right and apologized.

People don't like admitting that they were wrong.

I imagine they especially don't like admitting to it when the thing they were wrong about was a war they deeply supported at the time that resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 American troops.

 

[insidejob]

People don't like admitting that they were wrong.

I imagine they especially don't like admitting to it when the thing they were wrong about was a war they deeply supported at the time that resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 American troops.

I can say that being 3/4 ancestry, it really annoys me when people make fun of the French just because they think it's the cool thing to do. Can you imagine what New Orleans would have ended up looking like without the French - and Spanish - basically building the whole city? We'd probably be Anywhere, USA.

 

[donato]

France is terrible. I mean, sure, they have a far superior passport, better architecture, art, culture, style, arguably food- in my opinion music...then you get into things like health care, vacation, etc...what was the question again?

 

[Nebaghead]

France is terrible. I mean, sure, they have a far superior passport, better architecture, art, culture, style, arguably food- in my opinion music...then you get into things like health care, vacation, etc...what was the question again?

They did invent felatio too. Couldn’t imagine a world without that.