Monday, October 20, 2008

The Difference Between Right and Left

Dennis Prager explains some fundamental differences between the Right and the Left in this country, and why those differences are irreconcilible (and also why voters are struggling to choose a new president).

“The left subscribes to the French Revolution, whose guiding principles were ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.’ The right subscribes to the American formula, ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.’ The French/European notion of equality is not mentioned. The right rejects the French Revolution and does not hold Western Europe as a model. The left does. That alone makes right and left irreconcilable. The left envisions an egalitarian society. The right does not. The left values equality above other values because it yearns for an America in which all people have similar amounts of material possessions... The right values equality in opportunity and strongly believes that all people are created equal, but the right values liberty, a man-woman based family and other values above equality.”

It's the difference between equality of opportunity versus equality of outcomes.