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Right and Left Paranoia

Right Wing (in America) means favoring private property, individual rights (private enclaves of freedom for peaceful people), free markets, and constitutional limitations on government

Left Wing means opposition to private property and the desire for the government to take over and control everything (well at least the major industries) in one big government monopoly.

Right-Wing Paranois - fear of Big Government abuse of power and tyranny

Left-Wing Paranoia - fear of corporations and Big Business abuse of power The Left's phobia is misplaced or excessive. Neither corporations nor any other business in the market can actually force (use violence on) people to make us deal with them, buy from them, or work for them. It's all by voluntary choice and consensual contract. Businesses -- even big corporations -- have to rely on persuasion -- advertising, marketing, attractive alternative pricing, new products, etc, not coercion. Any coercive power a corporation may have is from its association with or privileges from . . . . ta-da! . . . interventionist government! The source is political government -- Big Government with the authority to take from some and intervene to dish out goodies and privileges to others.

So, it seems to me, if one really wants to keep business abuse of power at bay, one should advocate a policy of laissez faire, viz., allowing anything that's peaceful (non-violent and non-fraudulent) but having the government come down on all fours on criminals and foreign aggressors who pose a threat to peaceful people. Laissez faire means extending the First Amendment's "disestablishment clause" (with government taking no sides and giving no privileges to any church or sect) to all market (i.e., non-violent) activities.

It seems to me the Right's concern about the growth of Big Government is much more rational and on-target than the Left's paranoia about big or little business. Businessmen are driven by the selfish desire for profit and the avoidance of losses, and they can only become wealthy by producing something that other people want and are willing to pay for.

Mrs. Fields may charge a dollar a cookie -- but nobody is forced to buy the cookie. If somebody buys the cookie, it is because they want the cookie more than they dollar they are giving in exchange for it. The same cannot be said for government programs: you are foced to pay into FICA taxes whether you like it or not, whether you will ever live to receive SS benefits or not, whether you agree with it or not. It is compulsory, not voluntary. You are given no choice; the money is taken right out of your paycheck and immediately spent by government. Mrs. Fields may use advertising to seduce or persuade people to decide to buy her product -- but no violence is involved. By contrast, virtually all government programs are funded by the violence of coercive taxation and operate by coercive regulations and controls.