The 1789 French National
Assembly seated the Third Estate on the left side of the chamber
and the First Estate nobles on the right in the place of honor.
The revolutionaries, of course, were in the Third Estate, hence
the political term, Left Wing.
The war of politics
is a war of words and ideology. From the very beginning the conservatives
took the name "right" leaving the liberal side with
the left.
Every word carries
with it a secondary layer of meaning called a connotation. "Right"
can also mean "correct," while the Latin term for "left"
suggests "sinister" behavior. The etymology of the word
"sinister" and “satanic” is associated the
Left hand. This association was clear in Christianity and especially
during Medieval Times. The political right wing appreciate these
connotations more than those on the left.
Just think of the word
"left" for a moment, and you get terms like “left
over,” “left behind,” and “left out in
the cold.” Now do the same thing with the word "right"
and you might think of “the right answer,” “human
rights,” or “the right way.” The word right
is a positive word, while the word left is a negative one.
Left wing is a term
created by the conservatives for liberals. Liberal movements have
foolishly take this term.
This word game is not
limited to just this instance, the conservatives are always giving
bad ideas good sounding names. For example with have Freeway,
Free Trade, and Smart Bomb, and there is nothing free or smart
about them. They are also using terms like anti-globalization,
anti-war, and organized labour (which sound suspiciously like
organized crime) to describe the progressive movements.
It's time for a shift
from left to right. It is time that we choose a label for ourselves.
We should henceforth
be called the NEW RIGHT, leaving with the conservatives with the
term OLD RIGHT.
How is done? Well,
we need to start using the term in our speech, and don't let them
stick us in a left box. It's time to break free.
Before the conservatives
controlled the only press and access to media, but today because
of the internet, if we work together we can make this term stick.
We were always right.
It's now time to give
us an appropriate title.