“I think we need to define a glossary of terms”. How about this?
Left: Socialist Politically Correct Rhetoric, Bigger Government is the answer to everything, State ownership or control of the means of production and distribution. Leftist revolutions always lead to Fascist-style, centrally planned economies that always fail. “To each according to his needs, from each according to his means.”
Right: Capitalist, Free Enterprise, Free Market, Freedom of the individual, Lower taxes through less government.
Apart from Left and Right, there are Authoritarian versus Libertarian extremes, but you can’t have a Libertarian Socialist, as Socialism requires strong government to steal private property and enforce party instructions. There’s no place for freedom in that. This is where the idea that Fascism is the opposite of Socialism breaks down: after the Revolution, they are both the same, although they differ in rhetoric before the Revolution.
In my view Government needs to be just big enough to enforce ethical behaviour in an otherwise free market: it is Government’s job to enforce the law, to stop bribery and corruption, Cartels and monopolies from forming, and to prevent unfair exploitation of labour. People should be free to do or say anything that does not cause actual harm to another citizen: the law exists to protect us from each other.
